The moose is loose

A Manitoba man says he’s honoured to have been able to help rescue a moose stranded in the ice in Nopiming Provincial Park.

Tuesday’s dramatic rescue was captured on video and Russ Popp, one of the first people to try to help the stranded animal, said it was a team effort that got the animal to safety.

“It’s a rush, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “It was like: ‘wow.’ Especially when you’re outdoors. This is the ultimate.”

The longtime resident of Bird Lake, which is 143 km northeast of Winnipeg, said a friend had spotted what she thought was a moose looking toward the water at the stranded animal.

“We drive down there, and sure enough, there’s a moose in the ice,” he said, noting it was his wife Pat who convinced them to go.

Popp, an avid hunter and a retired big-game outfitter, contacted provincial conservation officers to let them know he was heading out onto the ice to start the rescue, at which time, they offered to help.

“That ice is always dangerous,” he said. “If you were to have told me I was going to cross that river there, I’d say: ‘never, no.’”

Popp stressed however, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night had he left the moose to die. He said right off the hop, there were concerns it was “mission impossible.”

Using sledge hammers, axes and other tools, Popp and three conservation officers managed to carve a safe path for the animal.

“Even though the ice was thin on top, we had to get through that second layer of ice because it was solid and the moose couldn’t get over it,” he said.

After more than two hours of work, they secured a rope around the animal, and the four were able to pull it out of the ice.

It was probably in the frigid water for more than four hours.

Popp said he felt the rescue was important, especially as the moose population in the area has been stricken by illness, ticks and destroyed habitat because of last year’s wildfire.

“You are so exhausted,” he said. “You’re just glad it’s over … and then you start to realize: ‘hey, we did it’ and we were so happy.”

Popp said while he was glad to get the moose out of the water, it would be up to nature to determine whether the animal survives.

He said while the moose was nervous at the beginning of the rescue, he feels in the end, the animal knew the four people were trying to save it.

“It didn’t charge us,” he said, once the animal was freed. “It knew we were helping it. It knew we weren’t a threat.”

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca