A Michigan deer has been rescued after spending 10 days wandering around with a plastic Halloween pumpkin stuck over its mouth, leaving it unable to eat or drink.
The young buck sparked a community-wide rescue effort after concerned residents spotted it struggling in a Detroit neighbourhood.
The plastic pumpkin had become firmly lodged around the deer’s mouth, leaving it unable to eat or drink and raising fears that the animal could eventually starve.
Local resident Jessica Cross was among the first to spot the Michigan deer in Livonia and managed to capture the encounter on video.
‘I saw the deer with the bucket on his face,’ she told Wxzy news
At first, Cross admitted the sight was almost comical, particularly as the pumpkin appeared perfectly centred on the animal’s face. But her amusement quickly turned to concern when she realised the buck couldn’t remove it.
‘I mean, it was cute, but it also wasn’t,’ she said. ‘I was a little disturbed by it.’
The 10-Day Race to Save the Michigan Deer
As word spread, residents across metro Detroit began sharing sightings of the animal on social media, helping volunteers from the Detroit Animal Welfare Group (D.A.W.G.) piece together its movements.
For 10 days, the young buck continued to roam the area, apparently unable to free itself from the plastic container.
‘Every year, this is a big thing.Year after year, we get the same call with several deer getting their heads stuck in pumpkins’
Kelley LaBonty, director of Detroit Animal Welfare Group
Kelley LaBonty, director of D.A.W.G., said the problem is surprisingly common around Halloween, when discarded plastic pumpkin buckets can become dangerous traps for curious wildlife.
‘Every year, this is a big thing,’ she explained. ‘Year after year, we get the same call with several deer getting their heads stuck in pumpkins.’
Determined to give the animal a fighting chance, volunteers continued searching until a breakthrough finally came on Sunday.
A reported sighting led rescuers to Hines Park in Westland, several miles from where the deer was first spotted. As darkness approached and the team prepared to abandon its search for the evening, another call came through.
There was just one problem. The buck was standing on the opposite side of a river. Nevertheless, the team managed to reach and safely sedate the animal before finally removing the pumpkin that had prevented it from feeding for more than a week.
Volunteers also administered intravenous fluids to help the weakened deer recover.
Before releasing it, rescuers fitted the animal with a special tag warning hunters not to consume its meat for a month because of the medication administered during the rescue, in accordance with Michigan Department of Natural Resources requirements.
A Halloween Warning for Wildlife
Although the young buck’s ordeal has ended happily, rescuers hope the incident will encourage families to think twice about what happens to their Halloween decorations once the festivities are over.
Plastic trick-or-treat buckets, particularly those with handles, can become dangerous traps for deer and other wildlife investigating discarded containers for food. D.A.W.G. is urging people to remove the handles from plastic pumpkins or, better still, bring the containers indoors once Halloween is over.
The organisation is also raising funds for a longer-range tranquiliser gun to help volunteers respond more effectively to similar wildlife emergencies.
