Photos show deer getting stuck inside plastic Halloween pumpkins in Ohio: 'Hazard to wildlife'

Humans may not be the only ones interested in scoring some candy as trick-or-treat approaches.

But while dangers like traffic and food allergies pose the biggest risk to children going door-to-door for sugary treats, the biggest risk to deer, apparently, is the plastic receptacles that hold the candy themselves.

Police in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio say they have recently responded to numerous calls about deer who have gotten their heads stuck in plastic pumpkins – the kind that young trick-or-treaters often use to carry their haul.

The Westlake Police Department, located in a suburb 12 miles west of Cleveland, shared photo evidence on Facebook of animals trapped in the pumpkins.

Though the department's post did not specify when the photos were taken, they appear to show at least two separate incidents of a deer with its head stuck in a plastic pumpkin – one purple and one bright orange. The photographs were taken by Westlake police officers "as they tried to get close enough to the wildlife to give them a hand," the department explained, adding "the deer of course want nothing to do with officers approaching them."

The post concluded with the department urging residents to be wary of leaving the plastic pumpkins in places where a curious deer could be tempted to investigate it.

"Please check your yards for these hazards and at least remove the plastic handle, which tends to wrap around the deer's head," the department said.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for Paste BN. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com