ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — It was Harte and Harte to the rescue for a wayward young moose at Quidi Vidi Lake on Wednesday morning. Brothers and Royal St. John’s Regatta rowing veterans John and Danny Harte assisted provincial conservation officers in getting the four-legged swimmer out of the water at the bottom of the pond, near the St. John’s Port Authority storage tanks.
The brothers were inside the boathouse grabbing a workout when they noticed the moose swimming in the water. After speaking with the wildlife officers, John Harte, who is the boathouse manager, jumped aboard a small Regatta motorboat and took to the water. RNC patrol cars and City of St. John’s traffic enforcement personnel warned traffic off the Boulevard and walkers off the north side of the lakeside trail while the animal took its morning dip.
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The moose did get out of the water at one point, but retreated to the water after a few minutes, “was scared of the amount of people on the trail,” one officer said.
An hour passed before the big critter got out of the water and ran into the storage facility yard. Officers closed the gates to the compound, where the moose was eventually tranquilized by a conservation officer and removed from the yard to be relocated to the Paddy’s Pond area.
