Deer caught in Christmas lights

Holiday light displays are going up all over Southern Colorado.

But those lights can be dangerous for wildlife.

Living in Southern Colorado means that you’ve probably seen your fair share of deer. Val Snider has.

“I used to do nature photography and I had a deer stalk me once,” he said.

But they aren’t just chasing photographers, they’re chasing each other.

Abbie Walls from Colorado Parks and Wildlife explains why. “It’s during the rut, they’re looking for a mate,” she said.

We saw a young buck trying to sell himself to a doe. In this case, the doe wasn’t buying. The buck moved on, marking his territory in the process. That’s where the problem comes in.

“Any kind of object that looks curious to them, they might go and check it out by rubbing their antlers on it,” said Walls.

Which means bucks might be running into Christmas lights.

It doesn’t have to be a spectacular display. It doesn’t even have to be lit up.

“This is just one of their activities that they do,” said Walls.

For Snider, the solution is simple. So does he put lights in his yard?

“I do not,” he said.

But if you’re feeling festive, Parks and Wildlife has some advice for you.

Walls said, “avoid doing any kind of draping lights over bushes, that’s really easy for them to get tangled in. If you’re going to put them in a tree put them a little higher.”

If you follow a few simple steps then both people and deer can have a merry Christmas this year.

Walls says that this time of the year, Parks and Wildlife gets a lot of calls from people who have seen deer with lights in their antlers.

Usually the lights fall off on their own when the antlers fall out in a couple of months.