Today as I was on a motorway heading back home, I hit a bird. It wasn't a big bird, but not a small one either. In fact, I didn't quite see what it was until I reached home, as it was dark and I was speeding about 90 mph.

When I stopped, I was horrified to see a wing protruding out of my lower vent grille! The wing was about 15 cm long so the bird should have been about half a kilo, but I really can't say as it was squeezed between the cell-shaped holes of the grille. After removing its remains, I was happy to find out that no damage was done either to the A/C condeser behind, or to the grille itself.

 

I have to say it is a quite clever design for a grille. The holes are big enough for air to pass, but at the same time small enough to contain anything dangerous one might impact. The edges of the cell-shaped holes are sharp so that birds and the like are drived into the (rather deep) holes and trapped there, thus absorbing kinetic energy gradually and preventing damage both to the grille and the condenser (which is some 15-20 cm further deep behind).

 

RIP for the bird, but I am happy to have saved myself from any damage!

Lucky you.

 

SWMBO had a bird strike in the Multipla which took the radiator out leading to a breakdown 10 miles later.

as it was dark and I was speeding about 90mph

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Edited 4 June, 201610 yr by Stormchaser

Lucky you.

 

SWMBO had a bird strike in the Multipla which took the radiator out leading to a breakdown 10 miles later.

Fortunately it was a single bird.

 

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Yes, I know I shouldn't be speeding that much, and believe me I usually don't. However, even if I was going 80 (you can't go much lower on that section of that motorway) my headlights' range wouldn't have given me much more time to react.

I would have fried it not grilled it. :p

I would have fried it not grilled it. :p

Haha! Actually, my father (who did the dirty job of removing the carcass) told me it actually was a bird that my grandfather used to hunt and that it is tasty and very rare to find nowadays!

It's the deer that you nearly hit in the dark, now they do s#### you up when caught in the headlights.