Maine couple spots a bear chasing a moose calf and helps it escape
A Maine couple was out fishing for the day when they came across a scene worthy of a nature documentary: A moose calf running for its life, pursued by a large black bear.
Elvia and Todd Malcolm were in Telos Township, Maine, about an hour from their home in Lincoln, when they spotted a doe at the edge of the woods before turning onto a side road.
“I told Elvia, ‘Grab your phone because you’re going to have a chance to take a photo of a deer,'” Todd Malcolm told the Associated Press.
They parked their truck to watch the moose and noticed that he appeared agitated and was growling as if he were calling to a calf.
Suddenly the calf and the bear came out of the trees and moved towards them. Todd Malcolm said there was no doubt in his mind that the bear would catch the calf, and he decided not to let nature take its course that day.
“I started the truck and just stepped on the gas,” he said, explaining that he wasn’t trying to hurt the bear, but was just trying to get the truck between the bear and the calf. “I knew what I had to do and I did it.”
As the bear jumped aside and scurried away, Todd Malcolm said: “Boom, he’s gone, into the woods.”
His wife was happy and relieved that they were able to intervene.
“My heart was pounding because I didn’t want to witness the bear catch the calf,” he said. “As soon as the calf passed the truck and stopped chasing the bear, I looked down the road and saw the mother and the calf together.”
Once the excitement was over, Elvia Malcolm started looking through the photos on her phone and was stunned to see some clear action scenes of the chase.
“When I started looking at them I really thought there was a bug on the windshield,” he said. “I put them through the windshield of the truck. I wasn’t outside the truck. There was no way I was getting out of the truck.”
After making sure the mother moose and calf were reunited and safe, the Malcolms continued to their fishing spot, where they caught some brook trout.
