Colorado Parks and Wildlife warns of Christmas lights’ danger to wildlife

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, or CPW, say deer get caught in Christmas lights usually when they are hung too low or too loosely on bushes or trees.

The agency tweeted out a picture Wednesday of a deer they rescued after it stumbled into carelessly hung lights and got them wrapped around its antlers, mouth, and neck.

Officials with CPW say if they hadn’t gotten to him in time, he could have starved to death.

Though they don’t have the exact number of how many deer get wrapped in lights each year, they say it happens frequently during the holidays.

Depending on how tangled the deer is, it can pose real danger to the public.

“Sometimes it will get caught around their legs, so they’re unable to move, or it blocks their vision," says Cassidy English, District Wildlife Manger with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. "It creates a public safety hazard 'cause they can’t see, so they’ll just walk in front of cars."

According to data from the Colorado Department of Transportation, 440 deer were hit and killed in 2019 in the southeastern part of the state

The actual number is likely much higher, as many crashes involving animals aren't reported.

Officials with CPW say when an animal gets wrapped up in Christmas lights, they sometimes have to cut off their antlers. Fortunately, this does not impact their ability to survive in the wild.

In other cases, the agency does have to tranquilize the deer in order to untangle them from the lights. They say they risk killing the deer each time they do so.