ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A moose buried by an avalanche on an Alaska mountain had its luck changed by three men passing on snowmobiles.

The Alaska Dispatch News (http://bit.ly/1AinLEQ) reports that the three Matanuska-Susitna Borough residents spotted the animal's snout sticking out of the snow and used shovels to free the moose.

Marty Mobley, Rob Uphus and Avery Vunichich were on at outing Sunday at Hatcher Pass about 55 miles northeast of Anchorage when they passed a small hillside that had both ski and moose tracks.

When they returned an hour later, an avalanche had covered the tracks.

Mobley says he saw something move in the debris and it turned out to be a snout, not a skier.

After 10 minutes of digging, the moose stood up, towered over its rescuers and ran off.