A bull moose in the Adirondack Mountains was rescued by New York conservation officers after falling through the ice on Lake Abanakee.
The incident occurred around 11 a.m. on Thursday, approximately 200 feet from shore near the town of Indian Lake, roughly 60 miles south of Lake Placid and west of the Vermont border.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released a statement on Friday detailing the rescue.
“There’s not training manual for getting moose out of the ice,” said Lt. Robert Higgins, an Environmental Conservation Police officer, in a video statement recalling the event.
The rescue operation was prompted by a passerby who witnessed the moose fall through the ice and called for help. Higgins quickly requested backup and was joined by two forest rangers.
In New York, moose face threats such as poaching and vehicle collisions, with several fatalities each year.
Nationwide, these majestic creatures are challenged by habitat loss and the effects of climate change, including rising summer temperatures and tick infestations that can strip them of their fur.
Fortunately for this moose, humans intervened to help. After falling into the icy waters, moose are at risk of hypothermia and cannot easily climb back onto the ice.
The danger of rescuing them is that the rescuers themselves could fall through the ice.
“We were able to use our ice rescue training to safely get out there,” said Forest Ranger Evan Nahor in the video statement.
The team first donned dry suits to ensure they would float and stay warm in case they fell into the water.
They then used a long metal “spud bar” to test the ice thickness, which ranged from one to four inches (2.5 to 10 centimeters). Safety ropes were also brought along so that if anyone fell in, they could be quickly pulled out.
They carefully navigated a path across the lake, sticking to the thicker ice to avoid breaking through, and knelt on sleds to distribute their weight evenly.
Forest rangers used a chainsaw to cut sections of ice connecting the area where the moose had fallen through to a thicker section, while Higgins pushed the ice blocks aside to clear the way.
The plan was to have the moose swim down the channel and climb out, but with the bull moose weighing around 1,000 pounds (455 kilograms), there was little chance of pulling it out safely.
Instead of swimming toward the thicker ice, the moose moved away from the channel. They attempted to herd it down the path they’d cut, but the moose wasn’t intimidated by the forest rangers or their large metal sticks.
Interestingly, it was scared of the sleds.
“For whatever reason, it was frightened by them,” said Matt Savarie, the other ranger. “Once we got behind it, we were able to guide it.”
The massive moose finally crawled back onto the ice, but the cold and two hours of treading water had worn it out.
“It was really tired and shivering, with little energy left,” Higgins explained. “We weren’t sure if it would be able to stand.”
After about 15 minutes, the moose managed to find its footing and stood up.
“It was an incredible sight to see such a huge moose rise up right in front of us,” Higgins said.
The moose then walked off into the woods.
