Moose in muddy predicament rescued by men in Timmins, Ont.

With the help of a couple of men from Timminsa moose is now moving freely in the bush.

Last Wednesday, afriend had called prospectors MauriceValliere and Pat Grebato come out to the bush, north of the northeastern Ontario city, where a male moose had become stuck in mud.

Before attempting therescue, the men says they triedcontacting the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, but no one responded.

"It was about three or four miles [about five to 6.4 km] from my home, soI thought it wouldn't be much of a job to go over there and try and get him out," Valliere said, adding thatif he and his friend hadn't helped the moose, it would have perished.

"He was buried right up to his head ... he was fighting, and fighting, and fighting just to keep his head out of the mud."

Vallieresaidif the moose had beenfemale, they likelywould not have been able to helpbecause the two menhad to attachstraps around the animal's antlersto be able to pull it out successfully.

"I was hoping to try to go around his stomach and try and get him out, but he was in too deep," he said. "There's no way I could have jumped in there, so the only option I had was to go around his horns."

They used the strength from an Argo ATVto pull the heavy animal out of the mud using the straps.

When the moose was finally pulled out of the mud, Valliere said,it was lying on its side trying to catch its breath, but then suddenlygot up quickly and ran off.

"Hescared me so I ran away, and he was stuck with one of the straps hanging there[attached to one set of antlers]."

Valliere saidthe area where the moose got stuck is Crown land. He believes the hole was once a ditch along an old concession road, which hadbecome covered in mud.

The two men don't consider what they did heroic or anything special.

"We didn't think it was that much of a big deal because everyone in Timminswould have probably went out and helped," Valliere said.

"We all love our animals here."

After the rescue, afriend of the two men,Bill Desloges,agreed to post the pictures on his Facebook page. The post has been shared more than 1,300 times.

"Itwasn't a big deal, butI guess it turned out to be a little bigger deal than I thought it would be," Valliere said.

'Rescuing a moose...can be dangerous,' NDMNRFsays

In an email to CBC News, the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (NDMNRF) says neither the Timmins nor Cochranedistrict officeswere contacted about this incident.

It adds that these types of wildlife events are rare and need to be assessed individually. The email adds that this type of act of nature is not unlike a moose falling through the ice

"Rescuing a moose stuck in mud can be dangerous to responders and often the outcome for the moose is unsuccessful, especially if it has been stuck for some time leading to capture myopathy- muscle damage resulting from extreme exertion, struggle, or stress," the email states.