Baby Moose Rescued From Drowning

A baby moose rescued from a Pennsylvania river captured the hearts of many Facebookers, but the tale of the near-drowning moose calf (of course) didn’t sit well with all readers.

The baby moose rescued prompted a Facebook post from Four Rivers Fishing, telling the story of how a Pennsylvania doctor saved the little moosie from perishing in the waters of a southwestern Montana river — or one of those biggest catch stories, depending on how you look at it.

The Four Rivers Fishing baby moose rescue story, dubbed “of moose and men,” explains how Red Hill, Pennsylvania doctor Karen Sciascia hauled in the 25 pound moosling after the babe ran into trouble crossing the Big Hole River. (It’s too bad moose moms and dads can’t read because the name itself is pretty scary.)

Sciasia says the moose mom and baby moose were clearly in trouble when the guiding fishing trip happened by, and they had to act fast to ensure the little one wasn’t swept away in the rushing currents:

“We were watching this adult female struggling back and forth, and we didn’t see a baby until we got close … Mom kept pushing — the current was pretty swift. The mother bolted and took off across the river. She was trying to get across the main portion of the channel, and even she struggled.”

But during the Saturday excursion, the doctor says, the situation escalated quickly when the baby moose was dragged away from his or her momma:

“It was small, and the river was swift … We lost sight of the baby. It was hurtling downstream and was being pushed by the river. It was too small to ever fight the current … We got up alongside it, and I just grabbed the little bugger. I scooped it up from the river under its front legs.”

Sciascia continues:

“I tried to hold it out, not wanting to get my scent all over it, but it was basically limp … It was breathing, and with my hand on its chest, I could feel its heart beating real fast.”

The baby moose was rescued and placed on the banks, and Sciascia says that eventually the moose mom returned when she heard her baby crying:

“When we last saw her, we were heading downstream. The mother was heading toward it. She had come out of the woods and was heading toward her baby … It was cool to be in the right place at the right time.”

According to the fishing company, some readers complained about the baby moose rescue and said that baby animals should not be touched in the wild by humans unless absolutely necessary. (However, fear of subsequent maternal rejection may be a myth.)