This cartoon moose with Christmas lights on his antlers (pictured on the right) makes a cute holiday card, but the real-life scenario is a nightmare for moose in the wild. Two moose had to be tranquilized and have objects untangled from their antlers by Wyoming Game and Fish Department earlier this fall. They posted 20 images of the ordeal on their Facebook page recently.
One of them had a string of Christmas lights tangled around his antlers, and the other encountered a clothes line and had several articles of clothing hanging from his rack.
“Exterior decorations including holiday lights and hammocks can be unexpected hazards for antlered animals entering the mating season or rut. These moose were tranquilized and untangled in the Jackson area during September 2013,” wrote Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
The department is responsible for managing and conserving more than 800 species of wildlife throughout the state.
(Written by Alyson Booher; Photo Credit: Wyoming Game and Fish Department)