Maine wardens rescue moose trapped for hours in abandoned well

"The operation happened Wednesday after Cole Brown, whose family owned the forested land in northern Maine, spotted a pair of antlers. He heard a noise and initially thought it was turkeys but, upon, closer inspect, realized it was something a lot bigger. "He walks over and, through the thick alders and bushes, he saw the antlers, just the antlers peeking out," said Delaney Gardner, Brown's stepsister who videotaped the rescue. "He knew that an animal of the size, he was going to need some back up just in case it was, you know, injured or just stuck there.""

"The family alerted the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. They sent a biologist who sedated the moose and then wardens put straps on the animal. Using an excavator provided by the family, they gingerly lifted the moose out of the 9-foot deep well. "Once the sedation wore off, the moose took off running, no worse for wear other than perhaps his bruised ego," the agency said on its Facebook page."

""This is a majestic giant animal in such a precarious situation," she said. "So to be able to see everyone come together in all these different ways that they needed to was absolutely incredible. And then seeing it work out was just so satisfying and heartwarming." Gardner said the family didn't know the well - which is likely decades old - was on their 100 acres of land until the moose fell into it. Since then, they have capped the well and are considering their options, including digging it out and utilizing it since it there may a water source nearby."

A bull moose fell into an abandoned nine-foot well on 100 acres of forested land in Pembroke, Maine. A family member spotted antlers and alerted authorities after discovering the animal. Wildlife officials sent a biologist who sedated the moose while wardens secured straps. Using an excavator provided by the family, rescuers lifted the moose from the well during an elaborate five-hour operation. The moose ran off after recovery with no major injuries. The family capped the likely decades-old well and are considering whether to dig it out for potential water use to prevent future accidents.

Read at Boston.com