A sick moose led to over 35 Parry Sound residents rallying together to get it the help it needs.
James Lapointe, longtime area resident, says it all started about a week ago when he spotted a moose near Otter Lake that was circling around one spot and moving poorly.
“All our neighbours were concerned and then eventually last Wednesday (Jan. 24) the moose came up onto our private road. We watched it and the neighbours came to see as well that he was doing the same thing, circling and not doing well, seeming very fragile,” he says.
Lapointe says the group then called the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, but they were not able to help. He adds Aspen Valley staff then came out and assessed the animal. “They said that for sure it most likely had a brain worm, but it was young and seemed to be doing ok but not terrific, and it would need help to survive,” he says.
Lapointe says the sanctuary said they would get a crew together to do the rescue using a trailer, adding the residents had to keep corralling the moose to make sure it didn’t go into the lake which could be fatal in its current state. He says then on Sunday when the sanctuary staff came out he put a word out to everyone to find people to help lift the animal.
“We needed roughly eight people. I think we had over 35 people show up, neighbours and friends, all wanting to help and it was a successful transfer,” he says.
Lapointe says the crew got the moose loaded up into the trailer and now he’s at sanctuary getting the help that he needs.
“It was the most Canadian thing and we had people say they’ve travelled to Newfoundland several times to see moose, but have never seen one. It was majestic. It’s just a majestic animal. It’s so beautiful. The colouring, the white tinges on its legs and the beautiful colour on its nose, and it was just quite amazing and gentle,”
He ate our hemlocks. He was eating lots of our hemlocks and we were just watching him eat and trying to survive. It was it was pretty amazing.