Deer with candy bucket stuck on head freed after six days

MENTOR, Ohio (KGO) -- A Halloween trick is finally over for a deer in a Cleveland, Ohio suburb.

A young buck spent six days bouncing around a neighborhood with a pumpkin candy bucket stuck on its head.

The straps of the plastic pumpkin had appeared to be embedded in the deer's head, near its ears. The deer's entire mouth was enclosed in the contraption.

Animal control finally came out Monday but their efforts to trap the deer failed.

That's when a young man took matters into his own hands. Cameron Merritt hid in a hunting blind, jumped out and took the deer down.

"It's just like a football tackle. When I grabbed it, we went to the ground and it popped right off. There was stress on that deer because it couldn't eat. That's terrible. It needed to be done today," Merritt said.

The deer was OK and ran away afterwards.

Neighbors were very appreciative. After all, they had been helplessly watching the deer roam their neighborhood since last Wednesday.

They say something like this will never happen again, vowing to make sure all candy buckets are kept inside next year.