Over 1 Million Views: Man Rescues Moose Stuck on Ice in the ADKs

A viral video making the rounds online is giving many people a little faith in humanity this week.

As of Monday morning, it had already racked up over a million views, and honestly… every second is worth watching.

Unicorns of the ADKS

According to wildlife experts, moose are considered the unicorns of the Adirondacks. They are "awe-inspiring and highly sought after, but rarely seen."

The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation estimates that approximately 400-700 moose live in the Adirondacks. So, sightings are rare but not impossible if you know where to look.

The 4½-minute video, posted over the weekend by Explore the ADK shows a massive moose stuck on a patch of ice somewhere in the Adirondacks. The exact location isn’t known, but the footage was captured by a man named Eric Adams, who may also be the person seen in the video trying to help the animal.

Too Exhausted to Move on Her Own

When the video begins, the exhausted moose is lying in the middle of an icy stretch of road, unable to get her footing. Just a few yards away is grass and solid ground, but every time she tries to stand, she slips and crashes back down onto the ice.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO OF RESCUE

*editors note: The videos embed feature was disabled so we had to link

More than likely, without help, this majestic animal probably wasn’t going to make it.

That’s when the man steps in.

Armed with nothing more than a shovel—and a lot of patience—he carefully nudges and slides the roughly 1,000-pound animal closer to the edge of the road. Each time the moose falls, he calmly checks on her and encourages her to keep trying.

It takes a while, but eventually he’s able to move her far enough off the ice that she can get her footing and make her way back toward the woods.