Something about saving a moose in need must be programmed in the DNA of Canadian people.
Perhaps no animal is more emblematic of Canada than the mighty moose, and while many Canadians will gladly hunt them, they will also band together and do what they can to help out a moose in need.
Back in September, two Canadian fellas caught a bull moose unstuck from a mud hole, and now a Canadian family has made headlines for working together to get a moose calf untangled from a barbed-wire fence.
According to Field and Stream, a family in Alberta was recently cruising down a back road when they rolled past a mother moose in distress as her calf was ensnared in a barbed-wire fence along the road. The Canadian man can be heard asking if there were any wire cutters in the car, and fortunately for the little moose, the answer to that question was yes.
Given how aggressive cow moose can be in defending their young, attempting to free the calf was a risky proposition but had the family not been there to help, it’s likely that the little moose would have surely met its demise while trapped in the fence.
Cari Loree submitted the heartwarming footage to Viral Hog.
“My niece and her family were driving along when she saw a moose calf get into trouble. They whipped around to see if they could help.”
Fencing can be an underestimated problem for wildlife, particularly hoofed mammals like moose that often roam large expanses and try to leap over fences in their way. According to a study by the Wildlife Society, it’s estimated that one ungulate (deer, antelope, elk, moose, etc.) becomes ensnared for every 2.5 miles of fence on the landscape. Juvenile animals are also eight times more likely to get fatally trapped in a fence than full-grown animals.
Luckily for this little moose, though, it didn’t become one of those statistics thanks to some help from these friendly Canadian folks.
