PEMBROKE, Maine (WABI) – A video shared by a Pembroke resident of an uncommon rescue is going viral, something property owner Delaney Gardner describes as “something we’ll never forget.”
After recently purchasing 100 acres of land in Pembroke, the family had a close run-in with a local Wednesday afternoon.
The discovery was made by Gardner’s 15-year-old stepbrother Cole Brown.
“He heard some rustling in the bushes. And he went and checked it out, he saw some antlers moving around,” explains Gardner. “He called my stepdad, his dad, Jeremy. And they got close enough and realized there’s a well on the property that we didn’t know about, and the moose was stuck down in there.”
Steve Dunham, a regional wildlife biologist for Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, says it was a slow day at the office before receiving a call to assist in the rescue.
“It was in very dense vegetation,” Dunham describes of the conditions. “We assumed the moose was just walking through the vegetation and just stepped into it and fell in probably headfirst.”
The young Bull Moose was trapped in the well, which measured approximately 8 to 9 feet deep and about 6 feet wide.
Officials were able to tranquilize the moose before Dunham himself went into the well, strapping the moose up and lifting him using an excavator.
“I was able to climb in and kind of prop his head up and get a strap around it, and that was the best part, was there were so many people on scene to then be hands and be helpful,” comments Dunham.
With new advancements, wardens now have reversal drugs to inject animals after sedation so they wake up faster.
As many challenges stood in their way, including the 50/50 chance of the moose not waking from the drugs and the current mating season making Bull Moose especially dangerous, both Gardner and Dunham say it was the best possible outcome.
They credit the happy ending to quick and ample support from everyone on scene.
“Jeremy went over and got it, brought his excavator as well as a load of dirt to fill up the hole as soon as we got the moose out. It took 12, 14 people altogether, all the different things that needed to be done,” Gardner says. “So heartwarming just to seeing how the community comes together whenever someone else in the community needs help all the way down to our wildlife and protecting that.”
Dunham says the rescue took about an hour from the moose being injected to walking back into the woods.
“There were no obvious injuries, and he may have some bruises and bumps, but he was able to walk, and then honestly ran off great,” Dunham reassures. “He looked in good form as he as he trotted off.”
As moose hunting season begins next week, Dunham advises anyone in the Pembroke area to be alert for the small-bodied Bull Moose.
Because he is not tagged, Dunham asks if any hunter does think they shot the moose, to call Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to confirm. This is because the moose does have immobilizing agents still in his body.
For Gardner, the moose couldn’t have made his appearance at a better time as her sister-in-law and nephew were up from Alabama visiting and were hoping to catch a glimpse of one of Maine’s most elusive creatures.
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