During military exercises in the forests of Estonia, one soldier was called upon to aid a furry fellow citizen in the midst of a real life-and-death situation.

Erich Jyri Prikko is an Estonian defense force conscript who was recently stationed at the beaches of Lake Vrtsjärv with a unit. Last week, it was there that Prikko decided to go into the woods in quest of a “alternative restroom,” as he described it. But suddenly, according to heaveanofanimals.com, he was gripped by a new kind of call of nature.

Prikko told The Dodo, “I heard some weird voices that reminded me of a cat or a young baby.” “I observed a nice animal approaching from behind. He reminded me of a dog at first, but I soon understood he was a young baby moose attempting to communicate with me.”

The moose calf was all by itself. To avoid adding to the animal’s misery, Prikko sat down in the hopes that the young moose would return to his mother, wherever she may be. Instead, this occurred.

“He went gently towards me,” Prikko explained. “At first, he was pretty shy, but after deciding that I appeared to be trustworthy, he moved extremely near to me.”

The moose calf surprised Prikko, but then went one step farther.

“He even looked beneath my armpit for something,” Prikko added. “He could have mistook me for a woman with mammary glands.”

The soldier appeared to have rapidly become the mother of the young moose.

Of course, Prikko was unable to fulfill the request, but the hungry calf seemed to be soothed simply by his presence. Prikko then decided to assist in a different way.

Prikko stated, “I phoned our veterinarian office and told them what occurred.” “I wanted to help the tiny calf more and wanted to know what I should do.”

Prikko was instructed to return the calf to his original location and keep an eye on the issue. As a result of Prikko’s complaint, a veterinarian was despatched to the location with a bottle of milk to feed the young moose in case his mother did not return.

It was tough to leave the calf alone, but it was a wise decision.

Prikko and his team tried to be as quiet as possible so the calf’s mother wouldn’t be startled. After hearing a moose cry in the middle of the night, Prikko awakened to find the infant was vanished.

“We saw extremely fresh huge moose tracks,” Prikko explained, “indicating that the young calf had been retrieved by his mother.”

Everything appeared to be in order.

As a soldier, Prikko considers it his duty to protect animals, too — and in this case, he accomplished that mission perfectly.

“I wanted the calf’s mother to find him and I was very satisfied when we found out that they really found each other.”

Truly a job well done.