BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. – A deer with its head stuck in a Halloween bucket was spotted on a security camera in Bloomfield Hills on Saturday.
UPDATE: Deer with plastic pumpkin on head in Bloomfield Hills has been freed
According to Amber Ficarro, the first documented sighting of the deer was on Dec. 1, which means the deer has been unable to eat or drink for at least six days.
On Tuesday, police officers, firefighters, neighbors and volunteers gathered to search for the deer. They checked backyards and wooded areas. There was no sign of the deer.
This is not the first time this has happened. On Nov. 28, the Detroit Animal Welfare Group (DAWG) posted on social media that a young buck had been spotted in Troy with a plastic Halloween bucket on his head. At that point, the deer had been stuck inside the bucket for nine days.
DAWG said that while they are “certified and experienced” in the chemical capture of wildlife and have tranquilized deer in the past. They said the DNR told them they are not allowed to help the deer.
“The Michigan DNR stated that we are not allowed to help deer based on the order below. The definition of ‘take’ refers to hunting and would not apply in these situations,” DAWG said. “In addition deer must be ear tagged if they are given medications so the public does not consume them before a certain date. We do have our own ear tags and have requested them in the past from the DNR and were told they did not have any.”
DAWG said that their “hands are tied” and they were unable to help the deer. The next day, they posted an update that the bucket stuck on the deer’s head was found on a trail where he had been spotted and they are “hopeful he is free.” At that point, DAWG suspects that the deer would have lost a lot of his body weight that deer need to survive winter.
Police told Local 4 that they were able to put a thermal imaging drone Tuesday (Dec. 6) to take a look to help find the deer.
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