After being saved by a pair of 70-year-old men who are now hailed as heroes, a helpless moose was given a second chance at life. In Timmins, Ontario, the distressed was buried deep in a mud pit and unable to move.
“I was at home when I got a call from a buddy saying he’s in the wilderness getting soil samples and he saw a moose 20 feet off the road,” one of the guys, Maurice Valliere, told BlogTO.
His 82-year-old friend attempted to free the moose by providing branches to climb, but it was already too deep.
Vallier and his friend Pat Greba attempted to notify local authorities but could not reach anyone, so they decided to take matters into their own hands.
The moose would have died without their assistance at this point, so they set off to see what they could do.
The first challenge was creating a passage for their ATV to get to the moose, two kilometers off the highway; this took nearly an hour in and of itself.
When they finally found the moose mud, they understood the awful situation: “I looked to the side and all I saw was a head.” ‘Holy Jesus, this thing is really stuck!’ I exclaimed. He’s not stuck; he’s been buried!”
Valier spoke to him quietly to attempt to calm him down before placing a sling over his antlers:
“He began to struggle back, attempting to reach me with his legs but failing to reach high enough.” I felt terrible for him. “His mouth was full with muck, as were his eyes.”
After several fruitless tries, the couple eventually succeeded in pulling the moose up and out of the hole, which was estimated to be around seven feet deep.
The moose bolted once he was out, completely covered in mud. Even though it still had one sling on its horn, it seemed content to be free and in excellent spirits.
A friend of the couple named Bill Desloges released the images on Facebook to highlight the steps of the rescue.
The moose appeared to be trembling when it initially emerged from the muck, possibly weary from its struggle to get out.
“I felt relieved we got him out because I felt so bad for him.” He struggled and struggled and couldn’t accomplish it.”
It is unclear how long the moose was stuck, but, likely, he would not have lived if it hadn’t been for the heroic efforts of Pat Greba and Maurice Valliere, whom we admire!
