A deer with a sweet tooth found more tricks than treats when an orange plastic jack-o'-lantern bucket got caught on its head.
If you had “free deer's head from jack-o'-lantern” on your bucket list, than you just might be a caring resident of suburban Cincinnati. A group of neighborhood pals qualified on both counts after spending their weekend tracking the bucket-headed buck instead of cheering on the Bengals from the comfort of their couches.
According to local station WCPO-TV, staff at the Anderson Township Family Pet Center began fielding phone calls about a deer – either a doe or a young buck whose antlers hadn't yet sprouted – wandering their subdivision with an orange, pumpkin-shaped bucket stuck to its face. The bucket wasn't large enough to block the deer's vision but it did effectively prevent it from eating or drinking.
Daryl Meyerrenke, who lives in the area and works at at the Anderson Township Family Pet Center, advised callers not to attempt to remove the bucket as the animal could panic and cause them and/or itself injury. Nevertheless, concerned residents could not be dissuaded from following the “spooked” deer as it meandered through wooded areas, hoping for an opportunity to relieve it of the obstruction.
We're glad to report this Whitetail has a happy ending, as a group wielding catch poles slowed the deer down enough for one of them – coincidentally, Daryl Meyerrenke's son – to quickly pull the bucket off the critter's head. According to Meyerrenke, the deer didn't panic at all, instead doing what deer do best: graze on the grass underfoot and wet its whistle at a nearby stream. (via NY Daily News)
