Snowmobilers dig moose out of avalanche in Alaska

Friday, January 2, 2015, 6:37 PM - One lucky moose is alive after it was dug out from an avalanche by a group of snowmobilers in Alaska over the holidays.

A group of friends had gone snowmobiling on December 28, about 90 km northeast of Anchorage when they noticed a moose's snout sticking out of the snow.

The young cow didn't appear to be in any immediate danger as it was able to breathe. At first, the men thought it was a skiier.

"It looked like a guy's arm at first because we were expecting to see a skier," Marty Mobley, one of the men at the scene, told Alaska Dispatch News. "But it was moaning and groaning and moving and we realized it was a moose, even though only his ears and some of its snout was sticking out of the snow."

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The group grabbed their shovels. Two worked to clear the snow away while two more kept a lookout for another avalanche.

After about 10 minutes of digging, the moose was able to stand up on its own. 

It appeared to be unharmed.

"It didn’t even fight us," Mobley said.

"It was like, 'Help me. Help me.' It was totally docile and let us touch it. It just (lay) there."