SCOTT TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A man from Lackawanna County arrived home Monday night thinking a burglar had been there. He checked his security camera, only to find a winged intruder had broken into his house.
When Ben Collins came home from work Monday night, he was hit with the fear and dread you'd expect when you think you're a victim of a burglary.
A window in his sunporch was smashed, and he went to check his camera for the culprit.
It was not a robber, but a red-tailed hawk.
"He must've come from way up there and just smashed through," Collins said.
Collins has a mess to clean up, but he guesses there are worse intruders to have. The hawk took some time to recover from his smashing entrance but then got up close and personal with Collins' camera.
"We just shared it with a bunch of friends and family, and we were all pretty surprised."
The hawk was inside the house for close to an hour trying to find its way back out. Most of that time is spent antagonizing Collins' three cats.
"It's almost instantaneous, as soon as this happens, Rhenn launches through the air back into the house. Then our other cat comes in and he's investigating. Dexter, he's not afraid of anything."
There's a short standoff between Dexter and the hawk but no confrontation. The cats are fine, and the bird seems OK, too.
Eventually, he finds his way back out of the hole he created.
Collins says the whole ordeal could have been a lot worse. He will have to replace the window, but the video of the hawk's smashing entrance is priceless.