Neighbors from Ohio Township in Pennsylvania came to the rescue of a deer that had been walking around with a large plastic jug stuck on its head for around a month.
Bill Sawyer, a local videographer, had captured footage of the deer on a game camera outside of his home, according to WSB-TV2 in Atlanta.
Sawyer then started documenting the plight of the poor creature and posting pictures and videos to Facebook. It soon grabbed the attention of the local community, with Sawyer noting that around 20 people worked together to try to get the deer free from the jug.
"It couldn't eat, without a doubt," he told WSB-TV2. "There was no way for it to eat, there was no way for it to get water."
In the end, it was Lisa and Matt Mertz who were able to successfully free the creature from its plastic prison. After spotting the deer, Lisa ran straight toward the jug, gripping it tightly, while Matt held the animal from behind to secure its body and prevent it from charging at his partner.
"He was doing a slow trot and I held on to the container just so I could get some sort of grip onto him," Lisa said, per WPXI. "Then, I was able to turn my body and secure him safely until Matt was able to hold him from behind and we were able to get the container off his head."
"We're huge animal lovers and you could just tell, the look on its face, that it was starting to wear down and get a lot weaker," she continued. "I'm not sure if it would've survived another day."
While approaching wild animals is typically not advised, given risks associated with habituating the creature and making it reliant on humans — which could reduce its fear instincts, making it vulnerable to prey — it's unlikely the deer would have lasted much longer in this situation. Human intervention was necessary to give the deer a chance of making a recovery, but if possible, alerting appropriate animal rescue services is advised.
This deer would play an important role in the local ecosystem, eating plant life and preventing out-of-control growth. Without its presence, it could have had a knock-on impact on biodiversity and the other creatures that call the woodland home.
This incident also serves as a reminder of the damage that inappropriately disposed trash can do to animals. This huge jug should have been sent for recycling, but instead, it found its way to the deer and might have caused the animal to die from starvation or dehydration.
"It was just the right thing to do," Matt said, per WSB-TV2. "We wanted to do everything we could and we're fortunate."
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