These people brilliantly saved a moose trapped in ice, and they’re officially our heroes

Any humans who save animals are humans after our hearts. The latest members of that lengthy list of heart-stealers: these two guys who saved a moose trapped in ice. In the video clip posted by Viktor Johannessen on YouTube, two people can be seen ice skating across a frozen lake when they notice the animal struggling to free itself. While one person holds the camera, another slowly approaches the moose and begins chopping at the surrounding ice with an axe (aka, is the same technique used by a group of firefighters who saved a moose from ice last year).

Meanwhile, the moose appears to be visibly exhausted from struggling to get out of the frozen water, and ugh, this is when our hearts begin to break.

But like the wonderful human beings that they are, they continue to chip away at the thick icy layer, clearing a path for the moose to climb onto dry land. Other than a pair of wobbly hind legs, the animal eventually emerges from the icy water apparently injury-free and heads back into the wilderness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxK-C2KmBdk?feature=oembed

Unfortunately, moose getting trapped in these hazardous winter situations aren’t uncommon at all. In December, two brave individuals saved a moose from a frozen river in Idaho, but a pair of bull moose that froze to death in a stream while in the middle of a fight last November obviously weren’t so lucky.

Nevertheless, our hearts go out to these animals and the thoughtful humans who risk their lives to save them.