A deer was running around Montclair, New Jersey with a plastic Halloween pumpkin stuck to its head.
Luckily for the deer, Montclair Township Animal Control got multiple calls alerting them to the situation. They sent two officers, who managed to track down the deer and free its head from the plastic pumpkin, UPI reported.
Prying the Halloween Pumpkin Free
The two animal control officers caught the deer in a big net before removing its head from the pumpkin. The deer then ripped through the net and ran free.
A video of the encounter is available here.
The officers decided to hold on to the plastic pumpkin as a memento of the experience.
“We’ll need another net, but at least the deer’s free,” one officer said.
A Repeated Problem
This is not the first time a deer has caught its head in a plastic Halloween pumpkin, presumably while searching for food.
Last year, a deer in Putnam Valley, New York got a plastic pumpkin stuck to its nose, according to the Associated Press. It was a yearling, and it carried the plastic pumpkin around on its face for four days.
Putnam Valley Animal Control and the state Department of Environmental Conservation cooperated to rescue the yearling. People in the area had nicknamed the deer Little Pumpkin.
In 2017, a young buck in South Euclid, Ohio got a plastic Halloween pumpkin fixed to its head. Concerned locals tried to help the deer, but failed to catch it. They finally turned to wildlife officials for help.
And in 2014, a deer in Mentor, Ohio got its head stuck in a bucket-shaped like a Halloween pumpkin. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources had to call in experts to set the deer free, FOX-8 reported. One of them eventually tackled the deer, twisting his ankle in the process, and pried the bucket loose.
