COLUMBUS — Authorities in Upper Arlington are cautiously optimistic that a young male deer with a plastic pumpkin stuck on its head for more than a week in central Ohio has finally shed the irritant.
The Upper Arlington Police Department sent out a tweet Saturday morning that said a resident had found a plastic pumpkin by his deer feeder.
A resident of Columbus near Henderson and Chevy Chase called to say that he found a pumpkin bucket by his deer feeder this morning. It is likely that the deer who has been the source of so much attention has shed his bulbous, orange muzzle.
— City of Upper Arlington Police Division (@CityofUAPolice) December 9, 2017
State wildlife officer Brad Kiger went to the property to investigate.
According to a report in The Columbus Dispatch, Kiger says the pumpkin appears to be the same size as the one seen in a photograph of the deer and has similar dents. Perhaps the most telling clue was the discovery of deer hair inside the candy bucket.
Kiger wants residents to keep an eye out for the deer in case the bucket was placed by the feeder as a prank.