'Flying Fish' Falls From Sky Into Backyard Pool

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (970 WFLA) - How does a fish end up in a backyard swimming pool?  It flies through the air, of course!

At least that's how it appeared to Leonard Vanderpool of Winter Haven.

“We were watching TV and we heard a huge crash,” homeowner Leonard Vanderpool told News Channel 8.

Vanderpool went to his backyard pool and found a hole in the screen.  Then they saw the big fish splashing around in the water.

“I come out and there’s a big hole in my screen, and there’s this big bullhead swimming in the water. It didn’t kill him or anything. He’s going crazy. The water was moving like crazy,” Vanderpool said.

Vanderpool called police for help.  Officers took ten minutes to get the catfish out and place it in a bucket.

After a brief investigation, police found talon marks on the fish, suggesting it had been plucked out of the water by an osprey or another large bird. 

“The fish probably stung it with its horns, because bullheads have horns, and he dropped it right through my screen,” Vanderpool said.

The catfish survived the ordeal, and police relocated it to nearby Lake Ruby.

photo credit: WFLA-TV