For the past five years, Justin Stevens has done plenty of field work as a biology specialist for the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission.

Come springtime, you’re not likely to see much of him. Unless, of course, you spend a lot of time deep in the Maine woods, on streams where he and his co-workers stock the salmon fry they hope will someday return to the Penobscot River.

And as you might imagine, Stevens and his colleagues end up with plenty of tales to tell when they return to civilization for another load of fish.

But even Stevens has to chuckle about what he witnessed a few weeks ago.

First, a little background: Two years ago, on a similar work trip in the Maine woods, Stevens watched as co-worker Peter Ruksznis waded into the West Branch of the Penobscot and rescued a baby moose that couldn’t get up a steep embankment.

Ruksznis pulled the moose out of some swiftly moving water, took it under his arm, and quickly hauled it to shore.

Stevens now admits he thought the event was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and never expected to see anything similar.

A few weeks back, he did.

Another moose needed help … and once again, fisheries personnel were there to provide it.

This time, Stevens was fry-stocking Wassataquoik Stream in T3 R8 with Coley Powers of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The area is east of Mount Katahdin, and the stream is a tributary of the East Branch of the Penobscot.

“We stopped [paddling] to dump out some coolers with water and fry because we were at the end of our trip,” Stevens said. “We heard a sound and after looking around we realized that it was a small moose, probably only a few days or weeks old, and it was caught in a root-wad debris that was in the middle of the river.”

Stevens explained that each year, rivers carve their way through the woods, sometimes changing course.

“It could go to the left one year and the next year it could go through the woods,” he said. “All that debris gets piled up in the water. And this was an entire tree caught in the water.”

Caught in the tree and other debris was the moose.

“You could only see really its head and some of its body,” Stevens said. “All of its legs and most of its body was under water.”

It didn’t take long for Stevens and Powers to come up with a plan.

“We weren’t really sure what to do, but it didn’t seem right to leave it because it was stuck in there and the water at that time was still pretty cold,” Stevens said. “It was in the mid-40s. That stream runs off the side of Katahdin, so it runs pretty cold.”

Stevens said he and Powers worked their way downstream, and Powers was able to get out to the pile of debris.

“Coley was able to make his way out from the bank on a log,” he said. “He picked the moose right up and tried putting it in the water so it could swim to shore. At first, it didn’t have enough energy to swim, but he kept holding it and it gained more energy.”

After lending the moose a helping hand and moving it into slower-moving water, it was eventually able to make its way to shore and up the embankment.

Two years ago, Ruksznis estimated that the moose he rescued weighed about 30 pounds. This year’s moose was a bit larger, Stevens said.

“Coley has a dog, and he described [the moose] as a little bit heavier than his dog that weighs 70 pounds,” Stevens said. “I’m gonna say it was less than 100 pounds, but [about the size of] a good-sized dog.”

Stevens said helping to rescue another floundering moose was a big surprise.

“When I saw this one, I couldn’t believe I actually came across another baby moose,” Stevens said. “I really wonder how many of these baby moose end up dying somehow from [incidents like this]. They seem to get themselves into some awful trouble and aren’t able to figure out how to get themselves out.”

Stevens is probably right. But sometimes, a moose gets lucky … and a Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service crew is nearby to lend a helping hand.

Moose permit lottery looms

If you’re one of those prospective moose-hunters who has never had your name drawn during the annual permit lottery, it’s not too soon to begin walking around with your fingers crossed.

The lottery is looming … and this may be your lucky year.

Now for the bad news: It’s probably not your lucky year. Most of us will come up empty again … just as we have in the past.

Only 2,825 names will be selected from a pool of more than 70,000.

But as they say, you can’t win if you don’t play … and there are plenty of us still willing to toss a few bucks into the state pot to see if our name is drawn.

This year’s moose permit lottery is being held (perhaps appropriately) at Scarborough Downs in Scarborough, where more than a few folks have made their own wagers over the years. If history provides any barometer, a couple hundred people will head to the racetrack on Wednesday, hoping to hear their own name read aloud.

The drawing will begin at 5:30 p.m.

For the past three years, I’ve attended those events in Old Town, Presque Isle and Rumford, and have yet to hear a Holyoke win a moose.

The closest I’ve come: Up in Presque Isle I not only heard my brother-in-law’s name drawn, but also found out that the husband of our photographer who was covering the event got lucky … in his first-ever attempt.

I celebrated both times, but still held out hope that my own name would pop out of the computerized hopper with a bull tag for Zone 8 … or 9 … or, well … anywhere.

I’m not picky.

If you’re interested in finding out how you fared, you don’t have to head to Scarborough, of course. You can access the DIF&W Web site on Wednesday night, and the results should be posted shortly after the drawing ends. Their site can be found at www.mefishwildlife.com.

And as always, we’ll provide a complete list of the winners in Thursday’s editions.

Coming up on ‘Going Outdoors’

On Thursday I told you about a group of Bangor sixth-graders and their visit to the Kenduskeag Stream.

Cathy Cox’s class released 242 Atlantic salmon fry into the stream that morning (before scattering to do the things sixth-graders do, like play with slugs, kick soccer balls, and eat).

On Monday, you can find out more about their trip in our weekly “Going Outdoors” segment, which airs on ABC-7 and FOX-22.

You can tune in for the 6 p.m. or 11 p.m. ABC-7 newscasts, or check FOX-22’s 10 p.m. news to learn more about a worthwhile program that Cox’s classes have been taking part in for more than a decade.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.