Deer with jug stuck on head for weeks gets help — and a fitting name — from neighbors

Community members in Pennsylvania pulled together to help a deer that had a plastic container stuck on its head for weeks.

The deer, who was given the nickname “Jughead,” was first spotted by Bill Sawyer in Ohio Township on Feb. 22, according to WPXI.

Since then, Sawyer has posted updates on his Facebook page.

Deer spotted in Pennsylvania with plastic container stuck on head. Screengrab from Bill Sawyer's Facebook page.

Deer spotted in Pennsylvania with plastic container stuck on head. Screengrab from Bill Sawyer’s Facebook page.

“It’s been 2 weeks and this thing is still alive. Not moving very fast just stood outside my house for about 20 minutes. Everyone was contacted. No one close by,” Sawyer said in a March 9 post.

Sawyer said he and a game warden searched the woods for an hour, but couldn’t find Jughead.

On March 11, Sawyer said the deer was spotted by a neighbor and a “capture team” chased the deer twice that day, but still had no luck catching it, according to Facebook posts.

After weeks of being tracked, Jughead was captured and saved on March 13.

Matt Mertz after saving deer and removing plastic container from its head. Screengrab from Bill Sawyer's Facebook page.

Matt Mertz after saving deer and removing plastic container from its head. Screengrab from Bill Sawyer’s Facebook page.

“Caught this morning and freed by Lisa and Matt Mertz my neighbors,” Sawyer said in a Facebook post. “Lisa ran it down and bear hugged the jug and Matt tackled it and it took both Matt and Lisa to rip the jug off its head.”

Sawyer told WPXI around 20 people in the area all worked together to help catch and save the deer.

Lisa Mertz with the container that was stuck on a deer’s head. Screengrab from Bill Sawyer's Facebook page.

Lisa Mertz with the container that was stuck on a deer’s head. Screengrab from Bill Sawyer’s Facebook page.

“We went outside at like 7:30 and by 8:20, we had spotted the deer and Lisa said, ‘Matt, I’ve got the deer,’ and I ran over and she approached it from the front and kind of snuck up behind it from the back,” Matt Mertz told the news outlet.

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