A bear chases a moose calf in Tellus, Maine (Photo credit: Elvia J Malcolm)
What started as a quiet hunting trip in Maine turned into a thrilling wildlife rescue when a couple found themselves watching a black bear chase a moose calf. Just seconds before the man reacted, the man drove his truck towards the animals to break the chase, while his wife inadvertently captured the tense moments on her phone.Todd and Elvia Malcolm were expecting a quiet day of hunting when they set out for the town of Telus, Maine. Instead, they found themselves in the middle of a race between a frightened moose calf and a black bear.As they were driving through the area, the couple spotted a female moose standing near the edge of a wooded area. Todd turned to his wife and said, “Grab your phone because you’re going to get a picture of a moose,” he later recalled telling Elvia, the Associated Press reported.The moose soon walked down a side path but did not disappear into the forest. The couple recalls that she seemed agitated, and was grunting frequently as if calling to her calf.Then a small deer came out of the trees with a large black bear next to him. The terrified calf ran straight toward the couple’s parked truck.
Decision in a split second
Todd says he’s sure the bear will catch the calf if nothing changes. Without hesitation, he started the truck and drove it between the bear and the calf.
His goal was not to hit the bear, but to force it to give up the chase.The plan worked. The bear was startled as the truck approached, jumped aside and disappeared into the woods, giving the calf enough time to escape. “I knew what I had to do and I just did it,” Todd said.To Elvia, the few seconds of the chase seemed much longer. “My heart was racing because I didn’t want to see the bear catch the calf,” she said.She watched the calf pass in front of the truck before seeing it further down the road with its mother.
Seeing the couple together again brought an immediate feeling of relief.
Surprise inside your camera roll
Only after the excitement had faded did Elvia leaf through the photos she had taken from inside the truck. At first, I thought the blurry shapes on the screen were nothing more than bugs on the windshield.“I really thought I might have gotten a bug on the windshield when I started looking at them,” she said. Instead, clear action footage captured the bear chasing the calf through the windshield.After ensuring that the mother and calf were safely reunited, the couple continued to the hunting spot they had planned to visit that morning. They ended the day by fishing for trout.