ON PATROL - SAVING A MOOSE FROM A TREE

I puzzled over this one for a while. It was an evergreen tree, one of the Christmas tree types with branches close to the ground. All I could see was the back end of a large animal sticking out from the branches.

I’m not an animal expert by any stretch, but I guessed from the size and shape that it was a moose. It appeared that its rack was stuck in the branches and it was struggling to get free. It appeared to be tiring as its thrashing struggles were feeble at best.

Without a doubt, I felt a compulsion to save this moose from the tree. That was a sentence I never imagined I would ever conceive of uttering, but for sure, I actually said to myself .. I have to save the moose from that tree.

Fortunately, the moose was unable to resist my efforts to intervene to any great extent so I only had to contend with the tree, which didn’t put up much of a fight. It took several minutes to work my way to where the moose’s huge rack was entangled within the branches, and I painstakingly began the branch-untangling process.

All in all, it took nearly an hour to work the beast free, at which point it had regained enough strength to make things difficult for me. It slowly rose, with my assistance, to its feet. Its sides were heaving from exhaustion, but it had enough energy to express its gratitude by turning and farting in my direction.

I’m not sure what it had been eating, but it smelt suspiciously of elderberries. Among other aromas.