Last week, a concerned Maryland resident sent local animal rescuer Bob Swensen a photo of a deer they’d seen in their yard with a blue Halloween candy bucket stuck on his head. The image of the deer was so unusual that Bob briefly questioned whether it was fake.
“At first … I thought it was a joke, like somebody Photoshopped it or whatever, but it’s real,” Swensen told The Dodo.
Bob Swensen
As soon as Swensen realized the image wasn’t fake, he and his partner at Lost Animal Resource Group and First Response Drone Pet Search and Rescue, Bernie Hilditch, sprang into action. Neither Hilditch nor Swensen had ever tracked down a deer before, but they were determined to do everything they could to help.
Hilditch used his drone to track the deer’s location and movement patterns. He learned that the juvenile deer, nicknamed Bucket Boy, spent most of his time in a small herd with his mother and siblings.
Bernie Hilditch
For days, Hilditch and Swensen worked tirelessly to find the deer and get the bucket off his head. The deer rescuers were amazed to learn that they weren’t the only ones who cared. In fact, it seemed like everyone who lived in the area wanted to help and was invested in saving Bucket Boy’s life.
“Everybody in that neighborhood and out by that neighborhood were like, ‘Can we help? What can we do?’” Swensen said.
Bob Swensen
When almost a week had passed, Swensen and Hilditch were beginning to lose hope. Every time they got close enough to the deer to try to help, he would leave.
“Of course, with deer, anytime you move, they would kind of run away,” Swensen said.
Bob Swensen
Bucket Boy had gone so long without food and water that Swensen and Hilditch began to resign themselves to not finding him alive. But then, a miracle happened. Hilditch spotted the deer — without the bucket on his head. Hilditch had spent so much time closely observing Bucket Boy that he was able to recognize him instantly.
“[S]ame markings, same circles around the eyes, same brothers, the exact same four deer … and the bucket was completely gone,” Hilditch told The Dodo.
Whether the deer had managed to remove the bucket on his own or someone had helped him, it didn’t matter — Hilditch and Swensen were overjoyed that he was finally feeling better. It warmed their hearts to see how his mama took care of him and comforted him after everything he’d been through.
Bernie Hilditch
“When we refound him … I watched Mom non-stop licking every area where that bucket was stuck on the deer’s face, where it was hitting the eyes, where it was hitting the throat,” Hilditch said.
More than anything, the rescue partners were touched by so many people showing up to help a struggling animal.
“It was so nice in a world that is so cruel, to see a deer with a bucket stuck on its head bringing the whole community and state together in a caring way,” Hilditch said.
