Buck gets tangled in holiday lights — and picks fight with another buck, CO video shows
A buck was sparring with another buck that had Christmas lights tangled in its antlers, a Colorado video shows.
The animals were seen clashing antlers on Friday, Dec. 9 in Durango, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Southwest Region said on Twitter.
Both young bucks had a broken antler from other “rutting battles,” officials said.
In the video, one buck nearly gets stuck in the Christmas lights that were tangled in the other buck’s antlers.
“Sensing the situation, it breaks free, thankfully not getting tangled along with the other buck,” wildlife officials said.
People are advised to hang lights higher in trees so bucks can’t reach them, McClatchy News previously reported. Volleyball nets and hammocks should also be taken down if they aren’t in use because these objects can get stuck in their antlers, too.
The animals begin to rub their antlers on trees and bushes in September to get rid of velvet. They also do this in October and mid-December to mark their territory and show dominance, officials said.
They can get objects stuck in their antlers while doing this, officials said. In some cases, entanglements can become serious for deer because the animal could die, McClatchy News previously reported.
However, Colorado wildlife officials said they did not sedate this buck to remove the lights from its antlers because the lights aren’t keeping it from “eating, breathing and jumping” over fences.
“This deer will shed its antlers soon and will likely break free even sooner,” officials said.
This story was originally published December 12, 2022 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Buck gets tangled in holiday lights — and picks fight with another buck, CO video shows."
