Maine wardens save moose stuck in abandoned well in five-hour rescue

A bull moose that fell into an abandoned well in Maine was pulled to safety during an elaborate five-hour rescue.

The operation happened on Wednesday after Cole Brown, whose family owns the forested land in the northern Maine community of Pembroke, spotted a pair of antlers. He heard a noise and initially thought it was turkeys but, upon, closer inspection, realized it was something a lot bigger.

“He walks over and, through the thick alders and bushes, he saw the antlers – just the antlers peeking out,” said Delaney Gardner, Brown’s stepsister, who videotaped the rescue. “He knew that an animal of that size, he was going to need some backup just in case it was, you know, injured or just stuck there.”

The family alerted the Maine department of inland fisheries and wildlife, which sent a biologist who sedated the moose. Then wardens put straps on the animal and, using an excavator provided by the family, gingerly lifted the moose out of the 9ft-deep well.

“Once the sedation wore off, the moose took off running, no worse for wear other than perhaps his bruised ego,” the agency said on its Facebook page.

Gardner said the successful rescue left her with a mix of “relief and happiness”.

“This is a majestic giant animal in such a precarious situation,” she said. “So to be able to see everyone come together in all these different ways that they needed to was absolutely incredible. And then seeing it work out was just so satisfying and heartwarming.”

Gardner said the family didn’t know the well – which is likely decades old – was on their 100 acres (40 hectares) of land until the moose fell into it. Since then, they have capped the well and are considering their options, including digging it out and utilizing it since there may be a water source nearby.

“For now it’s covered and no more animals or people will be falling into it,” she said.

This article by Associated Press was published by The Guardian on 23 September 2025. Lead Image: Moose trapped in an abandoned well is rescued by wardens from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife on 17 Sept. 2025. Photograph: AP.