Ohioans Banding Together To Save Deer From Plastic Pumpkins

Ohioans are banding together to help solve a man-made, seasonal problem: deer getting plastic pumpkins stuck on their heads. It's a serious problem, the Ohio Division of Wildlife says. This year, at least two deer, in different parts of the Buckeye State, have ended up with a faux-pumpkin attached to their nose.

The plastic pumpkin prevents the deer from getting the food and water it needs. The affected deer can become emaciated, before dying. It's an ugly situation and News 5 Cleveland says this is the third straight year an Ohio deer has gotten a plastic pumpkin on its head.

That's why residents near Cincinnati and Cleveland have banded together to help two deer that have Halloween decorations affixed to their faces.

One of the affected deer has been spotted in Cleveland's eastern suburbs, including South Euclid and Willoughby. There, a group of neighbors have banded together on Facebook to try and save the animal, News 5 Cleveland reports.

So far, their efforts have been fruitless.

“We had a bunch of people together, and we had it kind of cornered by some tall fences, where it couldn't jump. We started to close in on it, kind of formed a ring to close in on it. It got spooked and ran at my daughter and knocked her down,” John Cizmadia told News 5 Cleveland. Luckily, his daughter was uninjured.

Meanwhile, in suburban Cincinnati, a group of residents also used social media to work together to try and save a deer in the same predicament. Residents in that area tracked the animal over a weekend. The group used catch poles to corner the animal and — eventually — remove the pumpkin from the deer's face.

"The Great Pumpkin Chase 2017 - after 2.5 hours of chasing this deer through thick and hilly woods tonight, we successfully got the pumpkin off it’s head," said Aaron Meyerrenke on Facebook. "Glad it had a happy ending."

After being freed, the deer reportedly went straight to grazing and drinking water, Fox 8 reports.

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