Dave Seaton calmly talks to this yearling cow moose that fell through the ice as she was walking across Hungry Jack Lake on Monday morning. Seaton, owner of Hungry Jack Canoe Outfitters, and several other men spent the best part of the April 10 morning wrestling the moose from the frigid waters of the lake and then getting her to walk to shore.
A yearling moose estimated to weigh between 500 and 600 pounds broke through the ice on Hungry Jack Lake early Monday morning and was rescued by four brave men in an effort that took more than three hours.
A frantic 7:30 a.m. call from local neighbor Barb Bottger to Dave Seaton alerted Seaton to the plight of the moose that at the time was struggling mightily to stay afloat.
Bottger wasn’t the only person who saw the plight of the moose. Forrest Parson was drinking his morning cup of coffee when he witnessed the moose fall through the ice into the water. Parson, who owns Hungry Jack Lodge, called the local DNR and the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department for help. Next Parson cleared a path to the lake for Seaton, who with his wife Nancy drove to the other side of the lake to get closer to the moose. Jim Morrison, fire chief of the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department and Bob McCloughan of Bearskin Lodge, joined them.
By now about 40 minutes had elapsed since the moose was first spotted. Seaton said they noticed the yearling had stopped struggling, seemingly resigned to her fate.
Not taking any chances, before beginning the rescue all four men wore life jackets, had ice picks, and dragged two canoes out near the moose in case the ice broke again.
“I wasn’t too worried about the ice,” said Dave. “I had drilled a hole near my place the night before and there was 20 inches of ice. But the ice across the lake was different; there was less of it. It was starting to candle on that side of the lake and it was dark.
“We tried at first to canoe to the moose but it was too hard to break through, so we slid the canoes out to her with us,” he added.
Seaton said he talked to the moose and patted it on the head and nose to keep it calm. All that was above the water was the moose’s head, and she was resting her chin on the ice.
Using two tow straps Dave had brought, and talking calmly to the moose, who seemed, said Dave, “somewhat hypothermic,” the men lassoed the moose and got one set of straps on her leg. At first they couldn’t get the moose loose from its hole because its front legs hit the undersides of the ice.
“We got a strap on one of her hooves and turned the moose on its side, using the ice axe as an anchor,” said Seaton.
“We rocked the moose back and forth, like you would when you get a car out of the ditch, until she was lying on the ice. She lay there exhausted for a couple of minutes. We got the tow straps off her and waited for about five minutes before she stood up.”
But now that the cow was out of the water, it didn’t want to move, standing still for about an hour, shivering, exhausted, despite the coaxing of the men.
And when she did want to walk, it was in the wrong direction.
“She wanted to go back out across the lake but we kept her going toward the shore,” said Seaton. “She fell through again, this time just her back legs. We slid a loop around her neck and pulled her back out. Again, she didn’t want to move. She was cold and shivering. We talked to her, trying to coax her towards shore but sometimes she would fight. I finally walked ahead of her and the other guys hung back to make sure she didn’t go further out on the ice. She seemed to follow me. Once again, she broke through the ice, this time about 25 feet from shore in about three feet of water so she could stand up. She got out on her own. But once again, when she got out onto the ice, she didn’t move.”
By that time the men had had enough and they packed up their equipment and stood on a hill for about 20 minutes watching her before giving up and leaving.
Seaton returned at about 11 a.m. and found the moose gone. He went to the lake and saw that she had walked along the shore until she found some white ice and walked into the woods.
Dave said at times the moose seemed to understand the men were there to help her. At other times, “She seemed to be ashamed, looking away from us. I know that’s just conjecture, but that’s what it seemed like.”
For now, in this era of fewer and fewer moose, there is one that still roams the mid-Trail forests whose life was literally, on thin ice, before some good Samaritans decided to give her a hand.
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