A massive bull moose found himself in serious trouble this week after tumbling into an abandoned well deep in the woods of northern Maine — but thanks to a determined family and a team of rescuers, his story has a happy ending.
It all started when Cole Brown, whose family owns the remote forested property, noticed something strange sticking up above the brush. At first, he thought he was hearing wild turkeys. But as he got closer, he realized it wasn’t birds at all — it was a pair of antlers poking out from the ground.
“He walked over and, through the thick alders and bushes, he saw the antlers — just the antlers peeking out,” said Delaney Gardner, Brown’s stepsister, who filmed the entire rescue. “He knew right away that an animal that big would need serious help.”
The family quickly called the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, and a team of wardens and a biologist rushed to the scene. When they arrived, they found the huge bull moose wedged inside a 9-foot-deep abandoned well, exhausted but alive.
To keep the animal calm and prevent injury, the biologist sedated the moose while wardens carefully secured straps around his body.
Then, with the help of an excavator borrowed from the Brown family, they began the delicate process of lifting the 1,000-pound animal to safety.
After nearly five hours of hard work, the moose was finally back on solid ground.
“Once the sedation wore off, the moose took off running — no worse for wear other than perhaps his bruised ego,” the department shared on Facebook.
For Gardner, watching the massive rescue unfold was unforgettable.
“This is a majestic, giant animal in such a precarious situation,” she said. “Seeing everyone come together to help him — and watching him walk away safe — was just incredible.”
The family later discovered that the old well, likely decades old, had gone unnoticed on their 100-acre property until that day. Since the rescue, they’ve securely capped the well to prevent any future accidents — animal or human.
“For now, it’s covered, and no more animals or people will be falling into it,” Gardner said with a smile.
Caught in the wild by Delaney 🎥 See more on Instagram.
