Fisherwoman rescues baby moose from Montana river

A Pennsylvania gynecologist and her river guide were floating down a quiet Montana stream in search of a catch when they came across a surprise: a baby moose, struggling to cross a powerful current. 

“We were watching this adult female struggling back and forth, and we didn’t see a baby until we got close,” said Karen Sciascia to the Missoulian newspaper of the rescue. “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.”

Read more from GlobalPost: Moose decline linked to climate change

The mother moose forded the river and headed into the woods, leaving the baby moose to struggle against the water as the two humans watched. 

The two “saw its little nose reaching above the water" and decided to act, wrote the Los Angels Times. They picked up the small, seemingl newborn animal and placed it in the boat, and headed to the other side of the river. 

"I tried to hold it out, not wanting to get my scent all over it, but it was basically limp," said Sciascia to the Associated Press. "It was breathing, and with my hand on its chest, I could feel its heart beating real fast."

"When we last saw her, we were heading downstream," she added to AP. "The mother was heading toward it. She had come out of the woods and was heading toward her baby."

Fishing outfit Four Rivers Fishing, which organized the trip, noted on their Facebook page that: "This event was extremely unique, and was meant to inspire good will and kindle a respect for the beauty of mother nature.

However, moose and all wildlife should be left alone and given their space, in this incident Seth and Karen were never close enough to the moose and calf to cause any irritation, the pair were merely crossing the river at a distance downstream from the boat."

Curiously enough, moose rescue by fishermen isn't an isolated event. Here's a video from three years before of an adult moose and its sportsmen saviors.