WEST KELOWNA — A man in West Kelowna saved a tangled moose from a fence last week- and he’s got the bruises to prove it.
Marc Schoene jumped into action Friday after seeing the two year old calf gets its leg stuck in the wire fence. The calf had apparently been spooked by a neighbourhood dog and had tried to jump over the enclosure to escape- only to get one of its legs tangled.
Schoene immediately came to the moose’s aid, grabbing wire cutters and calming the animal down as he clipped it loose. But the good samaritan says what happened next caught him off guard.
“It started walking towards me and used its front hooves and got me on my shoulder and lower back. I was able to turn just in time before it hit me on my back.”
In a video posted this week you can’t quite make out the finer details of the attack- but the almost-cartoonish shot of legs running through the screen say all you need to know. That’s why conservation officers warn the public that though helping entrapped animals may seem like a good idea, waiting for the professionals to come and aid with the escape is always the best option.
Schoene says waiting for help might have been unbearable, but next time he’ll make sure he’s on the other side of the fence.
-With files from Timm Bruch