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MENTOR, Ohio — It may take a village to raise a child, but it certainly takes a village — including an aggressive, nature-loving teen — to save a deer with a plastic pumpkin stuck on its head.
Neighbors didn’t know what to do after spotting a deer with a plastic Halloween trick-or-treat pumpkin stuck on its head, but they wanted to do what they could to help save the animal's life.
But it wasn’t until at least six days after the deer was first spotted in its life-threatening predicament that community and city efforts became fruitful.
According to WKYC, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources was first called out on Nov. 10 to help the deer. They set up huge nets in attempts to snare the poor creature, which made for stunning and dramatic video, but ultimately proved unsuccessful.
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A Wisconsin lumberjack with impressive heavy-machinery skills saved a bear with a milk can stuck on his head.It was teen Cameron Merritt, whose mother runs Birds in Flight sanctuary, who ultimately became the deer’s personal hero. Merritt reportedly donned camouflage netting and surprise tackled the deer to try and subdue it when the plastic pumpkin promptly popped off the deer’s head.
"It's just like a football tackle," Merrit told WKYC. "When I grabbed it we went to the ground and this thing snapped off. It had to be done today. There was stress on that deer because it couldn't eat."
Unfortunately, the tackle took place in a stand of trees, so no clear video immediately found on YouTube shows the dramatic rescue, but everyone was relieved that the deer was finally free.
I bet it will think twice before stealing some poor kid’s candy bucket again.
