Heartwarming moment snowmobilers rescue massive moose trapped in a deep hole in the snow
- Mark Weir had been riding snowmobile with friends in Newfoundland, Canada
- Group were watching moose walk around when it suddenly dropped out of sight
- They eventually used shovels to dig path for the moose to help it climb to safety
A group of Good Samaritans recorded their efforts to save a wild animal after it got into difficulty in thick snow.
Mark Weir had been out riding his snowmobile with friends in Newfoundland, Canada.
The group had been watching a herd of moose walk along the edge of a pond when one suddenly dropped out of sight and into a deep pit.
The footage shows the friends using shovels to dig a path for the animal before it managed to climb to safety.
In the clip, Mark plods through the snow towards a spruce tree where a deep hole has emerged around the base.
He narrates from behind the camera and says: ‘[We were] going along and see a moose and there’s a hole and the poor little guy falls down in it.
‘So I guess we are going to have to try and get him out.’
Mark points the camera down into the pit as the moose manoeuvres his head slowly beneath the low-hanging branches and nuzzles the snow.
Mark Weir had been out riding his snowmobile with friends in Newfoundland, Canada, when they saw the moose fall into a deep pit
The clip cuts to the start of the rescue operation where shovels can be heard digging down into the thick layer of snow and the group of friends eventually manage to create a ramp for the trapped animal
The clip cuts to the start of the rescue operation where shovels can be heard digging down into the thick layer of snow before the group begin to discuss how best to continue.
Mark says: ‘We’ve got to leave that wall there until we are sure it can get out otherwise we are just going to have his head in the way while we are shovelling.’
He adds: ‘We’re coming for you, buddy.’
The trio of friends then begin to dig down through the snow to create a ramp for the trapped mammal.
The inquisitive moose repeatedly pops his head out of the hole to investigate the noise, much to the delight of its rescuers, before the ramp is eventually ready.
The moose tentatively approaches the newly-created exit before one of the men dramatically leaps to one side
The animal emerges and the men begin to run out of its path before it trots away into the distance
Mark says: ‘Alright, just knock down the wall and we’ll have to run because I don’t know if he is going to be angry or happy.’
One of the men breaks a hole through to the pit in the hope the moose can clamber through.
The moose tentatively approaches before the man knocks the rest of the snow out of the way and dramatically leaps to one side.
The animal emerges and Mark begins to run out of its path.
He says: ‘Here he comes. There you go, buddy. Now go away from us not towards us please… Go find your friends.’
Mark notices that the moose has a slight injury to its back caused by the branches as it fell into the hole known as a tree well – a deep pit around the base of a tree caused by its low-hanging branches preventing snow settling around the trunk.
But the moose seems undeterred and begins to trot across the snow and away from its helpers as Mark looks on in its direction and says: ‘He’s lucky.’