Deer freed from ‘pumpkin prison’ after it wandered with bucket on its head for weeks

A crew in Michigan helped free a deer from a plastic pumpkin that was apparently stuck on its head for weeks.

Video shared on Facebook from the South Lyon Murphy Animal Recovery Team showed its crew help remove the bucket, which it called a “pumpkin prison.”

The bucket, according to Lansing resident Michael Brown, was stuck on the deer’s head for two weeks, according to WLNS.

The deer, which the recovery team named Lucky, hopped a fence into a home’s backyard, where the crew had a net waiting for him. The homeowner told the team she had grown concerned for Lucky after seeing him in her yard everyday.

The net was then dropped on Lucky, and the crew went to work trying to remove the bucket.

“Everyone worked like a well oiled machine, and we were able to in under three minutes be able to successfully capture him, cut the bucket off, detangle him, and then safely release him,” the recovery team said on its Facebook post.

The video shows the deer scamper away — bucket free — as the crew cheers.

After the rescue, the team encouraged people to “do better” with how they throw away buckets used for trick-or-treating.

“On Halloween, remind the folks that are trick-or-treating to cut the handles,” they said. “We can prevent this. Deer are sooooo curious, like all life is. We are stewards of nature and we all can do a better job.”

This story was originally published January 23, 2023 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Deer freed from ‘pumpkin prison’ after it wandered with bucket on its head for weeks."