A Maine husband and wife turned an ordinary Thursday fishing outing into a rescue effort when they used their pickup truck to shield a moose calf from a charging bear, ultimately helping the young animal get back to its mother.
Todd Malcolm told The Associated Press that, in the moment, he was convinced the bear would overtake the calf if he did not step in.
“I knew what I had to do, and I just did it,” Malcolm said.
A bear pursues a moose calf shortly before a Maine couple used their pickup truck to intervene, helping the calf reunite with its mother. (Elvia J. Malcolm via AP)
The dramatic encounter started in Telos Township, Maine, when Todd and Elvia Malcolm saw a cow moose standing near the tree line and stopped, hoping to take a picture.
“I said to Elvia, I said, ‘Grab your phone because you’re going to get a chance to get a picture of a moose,’” Todd Malcolm said.
Once they pulled over, the couple quickly realized the moose seemed distressed — and they soon discovered there was a serious reason for her alarm.
An American black bear feeding near Princeton, British Columbia, Canada. (iStock)
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Moments later, a bear and the moose calf burst from the woods and sprinted directly toward their truck, they told the AP.
Todd Malcolm said he was convinced the bear would catch the vulnerable calf and decided to intervene.
“I put the truck in drive and I just stepped on the gas,” he said.
A large Bull Moose looking at camera in a swampy wildlife refuge. (Getty Images Creatives)
Malcolm said he didn’t want to hurt the bear and only intended to put the truck between the predator and the calf.
His plan worked, and the bear darted to the side of the road before disappearing back into the woods.
“Boom, gone, right in the woods,” he said.
The ordeal was just as nerve-racking for Elvia Malcolm.
“My heart was racing because I did not want to witness the bear catching the calf,” she told the AP. “As soon as the calf got past the truck, and we were able to get the bear to give up the chase, I looked up the road and saw that they were together, the mom and the calf.”
Despite the chaos, Elvia Malcolm said she still managed to capture several photographs of the dramatic encounter.
“I really thought I probably got like a bug on the windshield when I started to look at them,” she said. “I took them through the front windshield of the truck. I wasn’t outside the truck. No way was I getting outside the truck.”
The couple later continued their fishing trip after watching the moose calf reunite with its mother.
