When a moose ventured on to Vernon Narrows this afternoon (January 23), the thin ice wasn’t enough to support its massive weight.
Nearby resident Jacob Gordon, 15, spotted the struggling animal while out on his snowmobile on an adjacent road.
His mom, Kim Gordon, relayed the details of the afternoon: “(Jacob) moved closer to see what it was and that spooked it, so he turned his machine off and it started to come back toward shore.
“He called 911 and was told that the OPP and MNR couldn’t do anything. I know Mike (Macintosh) at Bear With Us and he directed us to Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. They got here as fast as they could, and one of them had also been called by the OPP so they must have been doing something behind the scenes.
This screenshot from a video by Jacob Gordon shows the moose struggling to hoist itself out of the water.
“They asked us if we had chainsaws and sledgehammers. The idea was to break the ice because it wasn’t that far out and then maybe it could have come to shore on its own. I think ultimately that would have been the way to do it. Trying to pull it out would have been too difficult – the ice was just too thin.”
Huntsville’s fire department often gets calls like these, particularly in the spring, for deer that have gone through the ice, said fire chief Steven Hernen. They were notified of this incident, but their policy is not to respond. “We do not go out for any animal rescue. You can’t convince (an animal) that you’re there to help them and if you try to get close, their natural tendency is to move away. They don’t want to go near people. The best thing you can do is leave them alone and move out of sight. It’s just not safe to put human life at risk (to attempt a rescue).”
The department generally won’t respond for pet rescues, either. “Every situation is different, but by the time we could get there it’s likely too late. We advise people to keep their pets on a leash this time of year.”
Gordon acknowledged that sometimes nature has to take its course. “It’s hard to watch, though. It had an unfortunate ending but we feel good that we at least tried to get help there.”
The OPP continues to warn local residents and visitors that many area waterways are still not safe for travel.
If you didn’t hear about it, and found a mysterious small bone on the shoreline what would you do? … If your pet went through the ice, would you just say “oh well” and ignore it too? Yes life is full of tragedies but not attempting to do anything about it is… in itself, a tragedy.
Fortunately, the Township of Perry, its Firefighters and staff would NOT agree with you on this issue! Recently, a dog went through thin ice and the rescue operations went into full gear. Firefighters in flotation suits responded to the call and successfully rescued the struggling animal. The thickness of the ice would have been much thinner in order for a dog to go through it (as seen in the rescue video) than the thickness shown in the moose incident. The equipment provided for the rescue teams is paid for and provided by the residents and should be at the public’s disposal, as stated in the comment by Barry Groomes, above. A rope could have been used to possibly lasso the moose from a short distance away, chain saws used to cut a path in the ice several feet in front of the moose, and a rescue AT LEAST ATTEMPTED to save this animal, rather than just watching it drown. The weight of the moose just might have allowed it to break through the uncut ice in front of the animal not accessed by the chain saw, as rescue hauled on the rope to bring it in. I am quite sure that each member of these rescue teams has their own innovative ideas as to what could have been done, but the Huntsville group didn’t even try. Definitely, the safety of the teams is paramount, but possibly, some education on past incidents by the various groups participating in these successful life saving efforts is needed by our local groups. I recently read about a small, one man heavy duty raft (similar to airline inflatables) that was inflated on shore, used to carry a rescuer, pushed out onto the ice from shore on thin ice and a chain saw used to open up the ice a safe distance in front of the panicing animal, and a rope tossed over it from this inflatable, then pulled into shore. A good piece of rescue equipment, maybe??
Kudos to the Kearney group for their knowledgeable efforts, shame on the Huntsville group for their apathy!
I do think this is news and education for our local public. In Muskoka, we live in and with nature, and often wild animals find themselves in difficult situations. Having discovered an animal in peril in the past, I was unsure who to contact and what to do. While I am not happy with the outcome in this situation and definitely wish more had been done to help with poor animal, I do appreciate that this story was shared.
I honestly don’t want to hear about these things.
Life is so full of hardships and tragedies that is just not necessary.
No disrespect, but this is not news.
Our fire department won’t respond to even a pet rescue. Everyone should take notice of this when 2 fire departments responded and saved a family pet up near Kearney yesterday. If our department won’t respond then I think the survival suits that the fire departments have that we all paid for should be at the public’s disposal for people who do want to help wildlife or a pet. At the very least it would have been good training for our local firemen.
That’s really sad! The poor thing would have been so frightened. Horrid. Sorry for the people to have to witness this and feel so helpless.