“It’s still alive, trying to get out,” Warren said as he filmed the calf at Beluga Lake in Homer on Friday. “But mama moose won’t leave me alone to save the baby.”
Warren, who had reportedly arrived in the early morning to prepare a floatplane for the day’s trip, said the calf was wedged in a tight space between the seaplane and a dock. In his video, the calf’s leg could be seen outstretched over the plane as it struggled to gain purchase on the slippery surface to get out of the water. The mother could be seen nearby.
Female moose — also known as cow moose — are notoriously protective of their young and “will attack humans who come too close,” according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. A moose killed a man attempting to photograph her babies last month in Homer.
Homer police joined Warren to rescue the calf “from sure demise,” and thanked two of its officers for helping pull the animal to safety.
“Sometimes you really get to do something important in life,” Homer Police Department wrote in a statement shared to Facebook.
To rescue the baby, one officer moved a police vehicle between the mother moose and the water, Warren said.
While the mother was “distracted,” Warren and the other officer were able to run over to assist the young moose, which could be heard crying out in the video.
“Mom was close,” the Homer Police Department said on Facebook. “One of our officers kept her busy while the other got down to business.”
The calf had tried — and failed — to get out of the lake but was struggling to gain its footing on the metal float with its hoofs, the Associated Press reported. The mother was four feet away with another calf, the outlet said. Destination Alaska Adventure Co. and Homer police could not be reached for comment early Wednesday.
“He just kept slipping and slipping and could not get up,” Warren told AP of the baby moose, adding that it was “like an ice rink for the moose and its hoofs.”
Once the officer and Warren freed the calf, it attempted to move away but fell onto its belly on the dock.
The baby moose was later captured on video standing up as its mother licked it.
Warren described Friday’s events as “a wild morning” and called his pairing with police “solid teamwork.”
Police identified the officers involved in the rescue mission as Morgan Tracy and Charles Lee. “Anytime you can rescue a little critter, it always makes you feel good,” Homer Police Lt. Ryan Browning told the AP.
