A young moose tangled in wire fencing on an Idaho farm probably didn't know what to make of the man approaching it with a pair of tree trimmers.
But Latah County Sheriff's Deputy Shiloh Frantz had a plan.
He had wire cutters and bolt cutters in his vehicle, but neither would allow him to keep a comfortable distance from the frightened animal.
So he grabbed a pair of long-handled branch cutters, also known as loppers, and got to work.
The rescue wasn't easy. The wire was stubborn, the moose was frightened, and Frantz was well aware that an angry mother moose could be somewhere nearby.
But with some careful maneuvering, a few well-placed cuts and a little sweet talk, Frantz managed to free the calf.
The young moose scrambled to its feet and took off.
When it reached a nearby field, it stopped and looked back at the deputy.
"It was pretty cool," Frantz told Cowboy State Daily.
A Moose In Trouble
The rescue began when a woman in her mid-70s called the Latah County Sheriff's Office after discovering the calf tangled in wire fencing on her property.
The woman had returned home the previous evening and noticed the animal about 75 feet from her back door, Frantz said.
She wasn't sure how long it had been there.
When she checked the following morning, the moose was still trapped.
That's when she called for help.
Frantz, who serves as a forest deputy for the northern Idaho county, was among the first to respond.
The property had fruit trees, including apple trees, which Frantz said might have attracted the calf.
Frantz suspects the young moose might have been separated from its mother during the fall breeding season, when adults can become less tolerant of older calves.
“It’s mating season so it probably got pushed away from the mom,” he said.
Whatever brought the animal to the property, it had gotten itself into a predicament.
It was unable to stand up.
The more the animal struggled, the tighter the wire became.
Frantz knew he needed to act carefully.
"The closer you get to a moose, the more scared it gets," he said.
Reaching toward a frightened moose with bare hands, he explained, can cause the animal to panic and thrash.
Why Tree Trimmers?
After video of the rescue circulated, Frantz said some people questioned why he hadn't used tin snips or another tool specifically designed for cutting wire.
They weren't the right choice for this particular situation, he explained.
"I didn't want to use anything where my hand was closer (to the moose)," he said.
The long handles on the branch cutters gave him something the other tools couldn't: Distance.
There was just one problem.
The loppers are designed for branches, not wire.
As Frantz worked, the wire slid between the cutting blades rather than breaking cleanly.
The harder he squeezed, the more the handles strained.
At one point, he said, a handle began to crack.
But Frantz kept at it, trying to stay calm so the moose would do the same.
"Hey, buddy, let me take care of you," he recalled telling the animal.
He spoke gently as he worked, positioning himself and the cutters to release the tension holding the calf down.
Finally, one last cut made the difference.
With the pressure off its hind leg, the moose was able to do the rest.
"That last snip, he's like, 'I'm free,'" Frantz said.
What About Mama Moose?
The calf stood up, worked itself loose from the remaining wire and ran in the opposite direction.
Frantz watched it head toward a field, where it turned and looked directly back at him.
Frantz said he wasn't especially nervous about approaching the trapped calf.
What concerned him more was the possibility that its mother might be nearby.
Moose cows are notoriously protective of their young and can be dangerous when they perceive a threat.
"I was more nervous about the mama," Frantz said. "If the mom was there, I wouldn't have been able to save that moose."
Fortunately for Franz and the calf, no protective mother intervened.
When Wildlife And Fences Collide
The Idaho calf's predicament highlights a problem familiar across the Mountain West, including Wyoming: Fences built to contain livestock or mark property boundaries can become dangerous obstacles for wildlife.
Moose, elk, deer and pronghorn all encounter fencing as they move between feeding areas, seasonal ranges and water sources.
Some animals attempt to jump fences. Others try to pass underneath or between strands of wire.
Moose have found themselves in a few precarious situations lately in and around Wyoming.
On Oct. 7, a bull moose in Montana was rescued from a skate park after flailing for hours. In June, wildlife agents tranquilized a bull moose that had wandered too close to Interstate 25 near Wheatland.
In 2022, landowners and Wyoming Game and Fish personnel rescued a moose calf from an icy pond in Teton County.
More Than Traffic Stops
For Frantz, encounters with wildlife are part of the job.
As a forest deputy, he spends considerable time patrolling forest roads and working in the mountains.
He said he has helped free deer, elk and moose from fencing and other difficult situations.
Moose aren't nearly as plentiful as deer and elk in his patrol area, he said, which makes it especially important to handle encounters with care.
Frantz has no formal training in wildlife rescue.
He said he’s simply an outdoorsman who spends a lot of time in the mountains and has learned to handle the situations that come his way.
“I’m in the mountains. Anything with wildlife, I’ll be one of the first ones to answer the call,” he said.
This wasn't the first moose he'd helped free from a fence.
It was, however, the first time his body camera captured such a clear video of a rescue, he said.
Frantz said he hopes this rescue gives people a glimpse of a side of law enforcement they don't always see.
"We do more than traffic stops and arrest people," he said.
Sometimes the job calls for a little improvisation, a steady voice and a pair of tree trimmers.
For Frantz, watching the young moose run free was more than enough reward.
"It made the rest of my day," he said.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
