An AU student was severely injured Sunday evening after the right wing of the wooden eagle outside the library spontaneously detached and went hurling through the air.
According to the student, who prefers to remain anonymous, he heard cawing sounds right before the wing began spiraling through the air, knocking him unconscious and breaking several bones.
Bystanders said they, too, heard the mysterious noises coming from the ligneous bird. When they looked up, they said they were frightened by the seemingly possessed wing's sudden animation.
An interview with the eagle himself revealed that there is more to the story than meets the eye.
"This is revenge," the eagle said. "I was carved up into this ridiculous statue after my previous attack, and I will have my vengeance."
When asked what provoked the eagle's original attack on a student last spring, when he was still a large, shady tree on the quad, the eagle declined to comment.
AU Public Safety is keeping the student in protective custody and has assured the entire campus that they are taking steps to ensure the eagle will not bring harm to anyone in the future.
For the time being, the eagle has been removed from the quad, and an artist-in-residence from the AU Art Department is planning to carve the eagle into approximately 100 smaller replicas of the bird, which will then be sold in the campus bookstore as souvenirs and placed in prominent places across campus.
"We have no reasons to suspect any more attacks," said the AU artist-in-residence who has been commissioned to carve the new birds.
"I think the demonic tree will appreciate the honor of being featured across campus, in dorm rooms and in homes, and it will finally come to peace with the university as a whole"
