Protocol normally dictates that you , but three men in Alaska threw caution to the wind when they encountered one of the giant creatures buried beneath an avalanche on December 28.
Marty Mobley (44), Rob Uphus (30), and Avery Vucinich (27) were snowmobiling at Hatcher Pass, about 55 miles northeast of Anchorage, when they noticed an avalanche in the vicinity of ski tracks and moose tracks, . Worried that a skier had become caught, they doubled back to check. The only thing they found: the moose鈥檚 snout sticking out of the ground.
鈥淚t looked like a guy鈥檚 arm at first, because we were expecting to see a skier,鈥 Mobley . 鈥淏ut it was moaning and groaning and moving, and we realized it was a moose, even though only his ears and some of its snout was sticking out of the snow.鈥
Despite noticing that only half of the 2,500 feet or so of mountain above them had slid down鈥攎eaning there was still a threat of sliding snow鈥攖he men decided to rescue the moose. It took them 10 minutes to dig out most of the animal. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 even fight us,鈥 Mobley recalled. 鈥淚t was like, 鈥楬elp me. Help me.鈥 It was totally docile and let us touch it. It just [lay] there,鈥 Mobley said.
So far, no humans have been found injured or killed by the avalanche.