Pumpkin-headed deer

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Deer enjoy eating pumpkin innards, and sometimes one will get its head stuck inside a pumpkin, generally one set out for Halloween. Even more common is a deer's head becoming stuck inside a plastic trick-or-treat bucket shaped like a pumpkin[citation needed]. Although the appearance of such a creature may appear shocking or humorous, it is potentially life-threatening for the deer as the deer cannot eat[citation needed] or drink until the pumpkin becomes unstuck. The proper response to such a situation is to contact animal control and if possible, to keep track of the deer's direction so that animal control can more easily find the animal when they arrive.[citation needed]

Cases of deer with their heads stuck in pumpkins have been reported at least as far back as 1993, when the Dallas Morning News ran a story describing a case in Austin's Lakeway residential district. The report involved a plastic trick-or-treat pumpkin bucket.

A case in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 2005 involved what at first appeared to be a pumpkin, and looked much like a pumpkin in published photographs[citation needed]. However, Cumberland County wildlife conservation officer Eric Horsch, who "came within 20 yards of capturing the deer" according to the local Sentinel newspaper, said the object stuck on the deer's head was not a pumpkin at all but some sort of brown or gold plastic ball, which Horsch speculated may have been a lawn ornament or Halloween decoration.

Also in 2005, a case was reported in November in West Paterson, New Jersey. The deer, which the media dubbed "Pumpkinhead", was a young male sighted in West Paterson with a plastic pumpkin bucket stuck to its head.[citation needed] A December follow-up story reported that a deer had been taken into custody who was at first believed to be Pumpkinhead, but who turned out to be a different deer. Pumpkinhead is believed to have survived the experience.[citation needed]

In March 2006, another story surfaced in California in Los Altos Hills. The deer, reported as a Columbian blacktail fawn, was reported in a local resident's yard with a plastic pumpkin bucket stuck on its head and scared into a panic, running in circles at high speed and crashing into trees and other objects. Animal control officers were able to subdue the animal at the scene. A follow-up story revealed that the deer survived and amde a full recovery.

A November 2006 case involving a plastic pumpkin bucket made international news. Originating from Cascade Township in Michigan, a report of a deer with its head stuck in a plastic pumpkin bucket near a gated community attracted attention from officals at John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, as well as other animal experts, who hope to subdue the animal with a tranquiliser dart so that the bucket may be removed. When the story was picked up by the Associated Press, it made headlines as far away as China and Taiwan, as well as being featured on CNN's website front page.

[edit] References

  • Sasser, Ray - "Distress Signals: People can unknowingly put animals in dire straits" Dallas Morning News January 1993
  • Cress, Joseph - "Deer not trick-or-treating", Carlisle (Pennsylvania) Sentinel October 2005 online copy
  • Cunningham, Jennifer Hines - "'Pumpkinhead' deer still on loose" The (Bergen County, New Jersey) Record November 2005
  • Cunningham, Jennifer Hines - "Rescued deer, it turns out, isn't the storied Pumpkinhead" The (Bergen County, New Jersey) Record December 2005
  • "Trick or treat? Fawn tries on pumpkin pail" San Jose Mercury News March 2006
  • "Deer acquires pumpkin head" United Press International March 2006
  • Prichard, James - "Plastic jack-o'-lantern threatens deer's life" Associated Press November 2006 CNN online copy CBS News online copy
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