Ohio rescuers working to free deer from plastic pumpkin

Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Animal rescuers in Ohio said they are trying to help a deer spotted with a plastic Halloween pumpkin stuck on its face.

Doug Davis said he spotted the deer in the Columbus area on Saturday with its face stuck inside the plastic trick-or-treat pumpkin.

"We found that not only is it a plastic pumpkin, but the black strap that the kids would hold the trick or treat pumpkin with is wrapped around its ear or its head," Davis told WSYX/WTTE.

The Ohio Wildlife Center's Suburban Commercial and Residential Animal Management -- or SCRAM -- crew is working to track down the deer.

The center's Facebook page said employees and volunteers are "actively engaged in attempting to remove this plastic pumpkin."

"These pumpkins appear to fit deer heads a little too perfectly," said Casey Philips, hospital director for the wildlife center.

"It's like a giant backyard rabbit. It's going to be very hard for us to catch it unless we have any upper hand," Philips said. "If this is actually preventing him from eating or drinking, we should see him slow down and that would give us an opportunity to help him out."

The wildlife center said it is consulting with state officials to find a solution.

"We are working with Ohio Division of Wildlife to find a humane solution to this issue. Our staff assessed the situation today and the deer is still very agile and moves quickly. There are a lot of unique and challenging variables involved," the group said in a Facebook comment.

The Ohio Department of Wildlife said the deer can't be tranquilized because it's currently deer season and tranquilizing could taint the animal's meat.