At Sunny Slope Landscaping, they offer everything from excavating to detailed designs to make your backyard look amazing. Hoisting and saving moose has never been part of their portfolio…until now.

Monday morning Josiah MacLeod and his crew were on their way to a job when they spotted the moose in distress. Her rear legs had fallen between the beams of a bridge in the Trepanier Road area. "I walked around it and went under the bridge to see how its legs were caught," said MacLeod. "It looked like it slid on the ice a bit and just fell and its leg went right through and it was exhausted from trying to lift itself up."

He sent some photos to the Conservation Officer Service and said he had the means to lift it out. The C.O.'s came and tranquillized the animal and MacLeod and his crew set to work strapping the moose to the front a Bobcat track loader. 

"Put on some slings, wrapped them around the moose, lifted up the front end first," recalled Sam Soles, who also works with Sunny Slope. "Got the second strap under and lifted 'em up and out."

The landscapers had to get to work at that point, but the C.O.'s stayed with the animal until it was conscious again and it ended up walking away, apparently unscathed. 

MacLeod said it was a happy ending. "It was! And it's nice to hear," he said. "It's one of those stories that just sort of encourages you a bit."

"Good to see something happy for once,' added Soles.