I was once on a flight that pulled an owl through an engine on takeoff. I could hear it, feel it, smell it, you name it. Fortunately the pilot was able to abort the takeoff before the wheels came up and nothing was lost other than time...and an engine.

As we were deboarding, one of the gate crew said that an incident like that can completely destroy parts of the engine, especially with a larger bird like an owl. Outside of having to spend a few extra hours in the Pittsburgh airport, I felt pretty lucky.