A young buck wandering western Wayne County with its nose trapped inside a plastic Halloween pumpkin is finally free, after rescuers chased it through woods, thick brush and an ice-cold river on Sunday to catch it. The deer had been unable to eat or drink properly with the container stuck on its head, and it took 10 days of searching by a Detroit animal welfare group and metro Detroit residents before rescuers caught it.
The buck was first spotted in Livonia before making its way to Hines Park, the 2,300-acre park in western Wayne County, according to the Detroit Free Press. The Romeo-based rescue group had captured a young buck with its nose trapped in the plastic pumpkin, but getting to that point meant tracking an animal that does not sit still for long.
A Chase Through the Park as Darkness Fell
On Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, trackers followed the deer through woods, thick brush and across an ice-cold river as it was getting dark, per the same report. The group said the water reached their thighs and was freezing cold as they crossed the roughly 20-foot-wide river four times in pursuit of the animal, which it initially thought was a doe before realizing otherwise.
Before the rescue, the group had said the deer was constantly on the move and could travel about 3 miles a day, which had complicated efforts to pin down its location. The search had already stretched on for about a week by Nov. 6, when the group posted that it had reached day seven, the Free Press reported in an earlier account.
Darted, Hydrated and Tagged
Once the group caught up with the buck, it darted the deer safely with permission from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which had authorized the capture method. The buck was found to be moderately dehydrated, so rescuers gave it fluids and tagged it before releasing it back into the park.
After the intervention, the buck was up and on its way, according to a report from Yahoo News. The Free Press account adds that the animal paused for a few minutes afterward to groom itself and look back at the people who had just spent days chasing it down, with the rescue group describing the ending as one that brought happy tears.
Not the First Pumpkin-Head Deer in Michigan
Stuck Halloween decorations on deer are not unheard of elsewhere in the state. A Michigan neighborhood group separately removed a plastic Halloween bucket from a young deer in Lansing after it had reportedly been stuck on the animal's head for two weeks, according to WLNS. In that case, the group said it captured the deer, cut the bucket free and released it safely in under three minutes, and the same report notes the group had helped resolve a similar situation in the Detroit area one December, though the year was not specified.
