You know the stories. You hear them all the time. Someone goes on vacation only to end up working on their time off. Well, in this case, it was a job Maine Game Warden Jonathan Parker just couldn't pass up. And it's a good thing, for the moose, that he didn't.

You may recognize Parker's name from Animal Planet's "North Woods Law". Whenever I've seen the show, it's always been apparent just how much Parker seems to care for the wildlife in our state, and works hard to protect it...even when he's not supposed to be working!

This weekend, Parker posted a story on his Facebook page, that shows just how dedicated he is to his job. You see, Jonathan Parker was supposed to be on vacation this week...

"Well it wasn’t how I envisioned my vacation day, and I’m sure it’s not how the team envisioned their Saturday away from their families, but wanna Thank Dave who had been fishing that evening when he spotted this cow moose in deep mud on the side of a stream."

Apparently, as Parker tells it, this gentleman named Dave spotted the moose struggling in the mud by the water. Word of the muddy moose made it to Parker, who then reached out to another Retired Warden, Jim Fahey, and they hatched a plan. Now, if you'll recall, the weather this weekend was kind of a bear (pun intended) and as Parker and Fahey rallied a team of men (which included Maine Moose Biologist, Lee Kantar, a Marine Patrol officer, and a couple of friends) the rain fell, making things even more of a mess.

Thankfully, as you'll see in Parker's amazing gallery of pictures of the day's efforts, the team was able to rescue the moose from the mud, and ultimately get it back up on it's feet and away to continue it's moose business.

It was hot. It was muggy. It was muddy. And it was a weekend that most of these guys would have probably better enjoyed sitting by the lake with a frosty beverage in hand. But instead, they did what good guys do; they put their might to good use, freeing a moose.

 

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