Santa’s reindeer are just one of many beloved symbols of Christmas. They feature in movies and TV specials, yard displays, Christmas-themed advertisements, on cards, wrapping paper, you name it! And then, of course, on Christmas Eve, a team of reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh, taking him around the globe to deliver presents for eager children.
But when the Valentine family went out to the backyard one morning, they saw a very different scene. There was a deer tangled up in Christmas lights! This wasn’t an actual reindeer — those are more like caribou or elk — but it still had some seriously impressive antlers. They wanted to help the deer get out of its predicament, but those antlers were going to make the job of getting the lights untangled just a little bit complicated.
The Christmas lights were wrapped all around one set of antlers with a trailing loop that the deer’s leg was constantly getting caught in. Clearly, this poor creature was going to be in real trouble if nothing was done. The deer was obviously frightened and yet it didn’t simply run (or hobble) away. It was looking at the humans as if it wanted their help. The deer didn’t seem aggressive and there was a fence in between, so the Valentine family decided to make the effort. Getting a grip on the string of lights wasn’t easy. At one point, the wire played out (but only so much), leaving them with a deer on a string. “It looks like I’m fishing.” “Fishing for a deer!” They reeled the deer in, but could still only get so close. Using an apple as bait, they persuaded the deer to come closer still and were finally able to free the it from the tangle of Christmas lights.
There’s a video of the Valentines’ efforts to help the deer out of its fix posted below. We’d love to hear your thoughts in the Facebook comments. Be sure to like and share: your friends will enjoy seeing this Christmastime deer rescue.
