This past Thursday I was up at a friends cottage a little ways outside Bancroft to go ATVing. We had been out riding for a couple hours and suddenly my friend through his hand up as to say stop and got hard on the brakes. I quickly stopped then slowly pulled up beside him. As I pulled up I could see something on the trail not far ahead moving. There was a calf moose laying on its side 15 or so yards ahead. We both sat there confused for a second and began looking around for the mother. The last thing we needed was to be charged by an angry momma moose.
The calf was moving its legs constantly as if to try to get up or move itself forward. You could see that it had moved itself maybe 15-20 feet on its side by the marks on the ground. The odd part was they it never tried to lift its head once. We watched for a few moments trying to figured out what was going on and wondering if there was something we could do to help this poor thing. It looked like it had been there for a while. I decided to get a little closer to see if I could see anything more. My friend was very concerned about a cow being near by and didn't want to get too close. I had the same concern but didn't want to leave the calf there stranded on its side if there was anything I could do to help. Not that we really figured we could do much but you never know.
The calf was breathing heavily and its eyes were bloodshot. It still would not move its head. We figured that it mush have something wrong with its neck. Maybe a broke neck.
It had been about 15 minutes since we got there and we were standing back near the four wheelers. We were both wishing we could have done something for the poor thing. Suddenly the calf started kicking and somewhat repositioned its self. Its legs went out stiff then slowly relaxed. It took 3 final breaths a died right there in front of us on the trail.
It was a sad scene to come across. Yes its just nature and nature is cruel. I have a real soft side for animals so it was sad to see.
I think we were both a little relieved that the calf had died. We would have hated to leave it stranded and suffering. It was something we never expected to come across on our ride.
The calf was moving its legs constantly as if to try to get up or move itself forward. You could see that it had moved itself maybe 15-20 feet on its side by the marks on the ground. The odd part was they it never tried to lift its head once. We watched for a few moments trying to figured out what was going on and wondering if there was something we could do to help this poor thing. It looked like it had been there for a while. I decided to get a little closer to see if I could see anything more. My friend was very concerned about a cow being near by and didn't want to get too close. I had the same concern but didn't want to leave the calf there stranded on its side if there was anything I could do to help. Not that we really figured we could do much but you never know.
The calf was breathing heavily and its eyes were bloodshot. It still would not move its head. We figured that it mush have something wrong with its neck. Maybe a broke neck.
It had been about 15 minutes since we got there and we were standing back near the four wheelers. We were both wishing we could have done something for the poor thing. Suddenly the calf started kicking and somewhat repositioned its self. Its legs went out stiff then slowly relaxed. It took 3 final breaths a died right there in front of us on the trail.
It was a sad scene to come across. Yes its just nature and nature is cruel. I have a real soft side for animals so it was sad to see.
I think we were both a little relieved that the calf had died. We would have hated to leave it stranded and suffering. It was something we never expected to come across on our ride.
