Buck with a plastic pumpkin stuck on his head is finally freed after 10 days

The Detroit Animal Welfare Group finally got its deer. The nonprofit, based in Romeo, Michigan, tranquilized the young buck late Sunday inside Hines Park in Wayne County, after a chase that ran through the 2,300-acre park's dense woods, thick brush and steep, muddy banks.

The plastic pumpkin had covered the animal's nose completely, cutting off both eating and drinking since he was first spotted in Livonia. Volunteers and local residents had been tracking him across metro Detroit and coordinating the search online for more than 10 days.

Getting close enough to dart him was the hard part. The team waded a 20-foot-wide river four separate times in water that reached their thighs and, in their words, was freezing cold.

Darkness nearly ended the hunt. Rescuers said they were preparing to leave because darting in the dark is not ideal when a sighting came through, handing them the opening to safely dart the deer. They had originally believed the buck was a doe, and after sedating him they removed the container and treated him for mild dehydration.

The group posted on Facebook that evening that he was up and on his way, and that the deer paused for a few minutes to groom himself and look back, which the team read as a thank you. Happy tears, the post added, along with a promise that the volunteers would finally get some sleep even though they were cold, wet and smelled like swamp.

The group also thanked everyone who came out to search over the 10 days.