Clint Gottinger, a tow truck operator in Kelvington, Saskatchewan, was heading out to two jobs last Saturday evening when he spotted a yearling moose at a frozen junction near his home, exhausted and trapped in the ice, and made a decision that has since made him briefly famous across Canada: everybody else had to wait. Gottinger pulled over, lowered the deck of his tow truck, threw a soft sling around the moose’s body, and winched him free with help from a few neighbours who showed up, describing the pull as roughly similar to towing a Kia, before phoning his wife on the drive home to ask her to bring out some blankets because he was coming home with a moose. She did not entirely understand what was happening until he pulled into the yard with Rebel sitting on the back of the truck, and then she ran out with the blankets. The family wrapped him up, conservation officers checked him over, and Rebel spent the night resting in the yard while Gottinger periodically checked on him.
Gottinger tried oats but the moose was too exhausted to eat, and spent much of Saturday night lying down under a blanket before eventually standing up around 11 p.m. By Sunday morning Rebel had recovered enough to let Gottinger scratch his chin, though when Gottinger went back for a second scratch the moose gave a snort, raised his leg, and reminded his rescuer clearly that wild animals are still wild. Rebel stayed on the Gottinger property through Sunday before heading back into the bush Monday morning, having rested, recovered, and apparently decided he had received adequate hospitality. Gottinger’s social media post about the rescue racked up more than a thousand likes, and he noted with a laugh that the moose departed without settling the towing bill.
Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/tow-truck-driver-rescues-moose-trapped-in-ice-9.7180811
