Here’s something a little different for your Saturday morning reading pleasure. Instead of writing about James Comey, toxic Democrats, their obsession with political violence, or California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest faceplant, I am going to write about one of my favorite animals: the moose.
Why do I love them so much? Well, I used to spend a lot of time in Wyoming, where the big critters are numerous, and spotting one ambling through the trees was always such a treat. They’re just so damn goofy; you can’t help but wonder what the heck evolution was thinking.
But what if one fell down a nine-foot well? How would you get it out? That’s the problem the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife faced earlier this September as one of the massive beasts got trapped.
It all started when a resident saw something unusual:
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.”
Time for Fisheries & Wildlife to come to the rescue, which they did—but it was an arduous five-and-a-half-hour operation using some serious machinery:
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.
Watch, it’s worth it:
WATCH: A rescue operation went down in Pembroke Wednesday after a moose fell into a well.
— CBS 13 News (@WGME) September 18, 2025
STORY: https://t.co/hyC7sbQb2O pic.twitter.com/O6d6Wl2dTS
"Once the sedation wore off, the moose took off running, no worse for wear other than perhaps his bruised ego,” the department said on its Facebook page.
The post continues:
Wildlife biologists responded to sedate the moose, then they teamed up with wardens to carefully extract the bull from his predicament using heavy straps and an excavator. The whole process took several hours...
I guess we can add saving a moose from a well to the list of ways Mainers go AllInForTheMaineOutdoors!
Thank you to the landowner for bringing the emergency to our attention, to all those involved in the rescue effort, and to everyone who helps conserve, manage, and protect Maine's wildlife every day.
There’s one comment on the Facebook page that gave me a smile:
"Dave, you get in the well with the moose."
"How about YOU get in the well with the moose?!?"
"You got hired last. You know the rules. In ya go."
Now that's funny.
Granted, this big boy wasn’t nearly as big as the huge moose (meese?) that our Alaskan wildman Ward Clark claims without evidence roam about in the Great Land, but it was still pretty massive.
Yeah, Sure, Ward: Alaska Man Monday - Moose Births, Martial Arts, and a New Shootin' Iron
Alaska Man Monday - Moose Buggies and Fat Bears
There’s something about animal rescues, especially of giant creatures, that warms my heart. We’re a pretty brutal species, but we’re a pretty awesome one, too:
Hoge's Heroes: 40 Rescuers Team Up to Pull 2 Horses From Swamp in Must-See Video
As the late President Theodore Roosevelt reportedly said in 1912 after being shot in an assassination attempt, “it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.”
Carry on, Big Guy, and be sure to thank the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife when you get the chance.
This is one in an occasional series about everyday heroes that don’t necessarily make the front pages. It’s a chance to talk about something other than the political scandals of the day.
I’m inviting readers to send me stories of people they know or who they’ve read about who have done heroic acts—large or small, physical or otherwise—that have made someone’s life better or saved them from danger. Please email me with any tips at [email protected] or DM me on Twitter. Thanks!
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