Angler puts himself at risk to save moose from drowning in Ontario
A Wawa, Ont. angler put his own safety on the line as he attempted to help a moose visibly struggling to stay afloat in the water.
When Steve Morin went fishing with a friend last weekend, he was looking to catch an animal, just not the type he came across.
While on Lake Superior, Morin and his pal spotted a bull moose in the water and nowhere near shore. Upon closer look, the large animal appeared to be having difficulties staying afloat. It was then the Wawa, Ont. man sprung into action to try to save it, as it was just treading water.
"I said 'let's pull up, let's go take a look," said Morin, an experience moose hunter and guide, in an interview with CTV. "We went out there and he was just swimming around in circles and dunking down every now and then."
His fondness and respect for animals is what prompted Morin to make an effort to get the moose safely to shore. He noticed the bull's ears were down and that it was visibly struggling.
Steve Morin attempts to safely pull the bull moose to shore. Photo: Wayne Benoit.
"Normally, when you approach an animal like that, it will try to get away from you, avoid you, and it will go in a straight line toward land," said Morin. "So it just kept going around in circles and then eventually it was going to drown. So I told my buddy, 'we've got to do something.' I just said 'pull up beside him, I'm going to try to get a hold of him.'"
The northern Ontario angler then helped pull the animal about a thousand feet to shore, saying the animal's the fatigue noticeable in its legs as it walked onto shore.
"It was still quite challenging because he is a big animal. He is 600-700 lbs, and you know, it's kind of a struggle and you don't know what is going to happen. He's got big antlers on him, he can use that as a weapon if he needs to, so you've got to be careful."
Wayne Benoit, also from Wawa, who witnessed the scene and shot the video, told the Weather Network he was alone in a boat when the situation unfolded before his eyes.
"My initial thoughts were, 'what the hell is that thing doing out here?' I don’t know if the moose has that brain worm disease, it was blind in one eye and the other eye was very red," said Benoit. "When I got closer, I noticed it could keep its nose above water, but [the] water was going over its eye. I believe it just couldn’t see the shore."
While Morin doesn’t recommend attempting to rescue an animal of that size if you don't know what you're doing, he is glad the situation had a happy ending, with the moose living to fight another day.
The final part of the rescue effort was witnessed by several kayakers, as well as Benoit. It is the kind of story that is hard to believe unless you see actually see it, Morin said.
Thumbnail courtesy of Wayne Benoit.
Source: CTV
