Santa may have a bunch of flying reindeer, but the deer in Sheridan may have the most holiday spirit – at least those three bucks that have been strutting around town with Christmas lights in their antlers.
Resident Bryan Anderson told Cowboy State Daily that he spotted one on his afternoon drive home from work earlier this week.
“I saw him out of the corner of my eye, so I drove back around the block to get another look,” he said.
The sizable mule deer buck had a long string of Christmas lights hanging from his antlers. Dangling wires at the ends indicated they were likely snapped off a larger display when the buck got entangled, then pulled.
Anderson said the buck initially fled, but the two does that were with him stayed put. So, the buck ambled back to where Anderson could snap some photos from inside his vehicle.
“His does weren’t worried about me, so then he wasn’t worried. And he just stood there, eyeballing me,” he said.
Sheridan has its fair share of town deer, both muleys and whitetail. But Anderson said he couldn’t recall having seen that particular buck before.
“If I had seen that buck before, I would have remembered him,” Anderson said in reference to the muley’s impressively tall, symmetrical antler rack.
Bucks Should Be OK
The local office of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department got calls about at least three bucks sporting Christmas lights. So far, all those deer seem to be OK.
“We are aware of three deer with lights entangled in their antlers. There is also one deer that has remnants of a soccer net entangled in its antlers,” Christina Schmidt, public information specialist for the agency’s Sheridan Region office, told Cowboy State Daily on Friday.
“As reports have come in, personnel have responded and looked at the animals,” Schmidt said. “At this time, they have determined the lights or netting are not restricting their ability to eat, move around or otherwise negatively impacting their health.
“Immobilizing an animal has risks, so it is done only when necessary to preserve the animal’s health. Personnel will continue to monitor the animals in case the situation with each individual changes.”
What’s more, bucks typically start shedding their antlers in December, so the situation could very well solve itself naturally.
Annual Reports
It’s not unusual for Game and Fish to get calls about bucks with things stuck in their antlers.
“We get these types of reports annually involving baling twine, nets, wire, tomato cages and holiday lights,” Schmidt said.
“The end of year/beginning of the new year tend to be times when we get more reports due to animals getting caught in Christmas lights and decorations. Again, personnel respond to every report to check the condition of the animal and the circumstances of the entanglement.”
And as festive as it might seem to have deer with Christmas lights on them running about town, it’s best that folks do what they can to prevent it.
“As for what people can do, one important thing is taking down soccer nets, volleyball nets and similar items down after use rather than leaving them up," Schmidt said.
"Also, be mindful of where Christmas lights and other decorations are placed, keeping in mind that buck deer actively rub their antlers on trees and shrubs in the fall, so placing them higher and out of reach is helpful,” he said.
As to whether Sheridan’s resident deer herd has grown and thus increased the odds of accidental antler decorations, probably not, she said.
“I don’t think numbers have necessarily increased, but certainly there are some areas of town where they tend to be found in larger numbers and may give the impression of increased numbers,” Schmidt said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
