Some days are stranger than others when you are sheriff's deputy on patrol. Sgt. Lane Findlay started out on an average routine last weekend until he found himself face to face with a moose whose antlers were wrapped up in a backyard swing set near Salt Lake City, Utah. This was not going to be a typical day for him, he then realized.

He had gotten the call last Sunday and responded to an urgent request to come to a residential community outside Ogden, about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City. When he got there the moose appeared to be in a lot of distress and was bleeding. He initially called wildlife officials to help him but was told it might take an hour for them to respond. So it seemed to be up to him to take charge of the situation on his own before the moose hurt himself anymore.

Findlay then handed his mobile phone to an onlooker and asked the person to shoot the video, telling him, "If something happens to me, give this to my wife." On the video it shows the moose twisting frantically in an attempt to free its antlers from the metal chains of the swing. Sgt. Findlay cautiously approaches with the cutters and then clips the chain links one by one until the moose finally pulls free and wanders off with only minor injuries. He then spent about an hour spraying down the moose with a hose as he waited for wildlife officials to arrive and assess the moose's health.

After it was all over, Sgt. Findlay summed up his unusual experience like this, "I just made the decision to go in there and see what I could do. Fortunately, the moose was tired and it didn't seem threatened. Once free, the moose trotted to a nearby bucket of water and began drinking and then he collapsed right there on the ground. Pretty crazy stuff! This is certainly a first for me, and hopefully a last."