A highway rescue turned this Newfoundland farmer into the viral ‘moose flipper’
On February 4, 2026, dairy farmer Melvin Rideout rescued a moose stranded on a highway in Newfoundland. His quick actions to flip the moose back onto its feet garnered widespread attention and praise on social media. The incident highlights both the dangers of moose on highways and the growing population of these animals in the region.
- ▪Melvin Rideout spotted a moose in distress on the Trans-Canada Highway and decided to help.
- ▪He successfully flipped the 800-pound moose back onto its feet, preventing potential suffocation.
- ▪The rescue was shared on social media, leading to Rideout being dubbed 'the moose flipper' by the public.
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Open this photo in gallery:On the morning of Feb. 4, 2026, dairy farmer Melvin Rideout helped save a moose on a highway near Corner Brook, N.L.Dru Kennedy/The Globe and MailShareSave for laterPlease log in to bookmark this story.Log InCreate Free Account In the spring of 1904, four moose arrived by steamship in southern Newfoundland, part of a government plan to attract big game hunters, feed a burgeoning work force in mining and forestry, and protect the island’s declining native caribou population. The moose, captured weeks earlier by a hunter in Miramichi, N.B., were loaded onto a train in Port aux Basques and transported to the Newfoundland interior.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Globe and Mail.
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