By Tim Binnall
Wildlife officials in Oregon provided a helping hand to a deer that had gotten a sizeable string of Christmas lights tangled around its antlers. Detailing the festive rescue on their Facebook page, the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife jokingly explained that the animal had gotten "a head start on decking the halls." Amazingly, they indicated that the deer had actually been seen roaming around the city of Dallas with the decorations atop its head since "before Thanksgiving." Despite police being on the lookout for the creature for at least a week, the creature managed to evade capture until until this past Wednesday when it reportedly wandered into a gated area of the community.
It was there that wildlife officials, alerted to the presence of the animal by Dallas cops, tranquilized the deer and carefully cut the Christmas lights from its antlers. "No injuries were found," the department reported, "and the buck got up quickly and went on its way." As for how the animal wound up entangled by the decorations, they explained that deer "rub their antlers on trees, bushes and other objects" in the autumn months and that "each fall we receive reports of bucks tangled up in volleyball nets, hammocks and yes, even Christmas lights." As such, the department asked residents to hang their Christmas lights high above the ground if their property is frequented by the animals.