MISHAWAKA — When you think of blaze orange vests, you probably think of hunters. But there’s a deer in the Mishawaka area rocking that same look.

The video was captured by one of our employees here at WSBT. You can see the deer — and his bright orange vest — snacking in the woods with some other deer.

The yearling deer looks pretty cute in his vest. Cute enough that you might want to pet him. DNR Patrol Officer Matt Maher says that’s probably how the deer got his fashionable look — someone adopting a fawn as a pet.

“Obviously a deer grows at a pretty rapid rate, so within the scope of about six to nine months, the deer will become so large that it’s unmanageable.” Said officer Maher.

When that happens, Maher says people usually release their now-massive pet back into the wild. He thinks this one’s human family hoped to make him more visible.

“So that people would think, ‘oh, I don’t want to shoot that deer or harvest this animal because it’s someone’s pet,'” explained Maher.

Now that he’s back in the wild, things seem to be okay for this deer.

“It’s obvious that the deer has assimilated himself into group with some other deer,” said Maher.

But this apparent success story will not last.

“Based off the video, we can tell that the deer has grown to a size that the vest is going to begin to restrict the movement.”

And this deer will likely only get bigger. Unfortunately, he’ll never get big enough to rip the vest.

Think of a tree growing through a chain link fence — this deer will grow around the vest, eventually becoming crippled.

“We definitely believe if the vest is not removed that it will cause a significant amount of trauma to the animal,” said Maher.

Maher believed the vest was put on the deer with good intentions but has now backfired.

DNR Officers are working with large animal veterinarians in the area to get the deer tranquilized and the vest cut off. The DNR has also already gotten a lot of calls from people who have seen the deer, which has been a great help.

Maher says these reports help officers figure out where the deer’s range is so they can track him down more easily.

If you see the deer, call the central dispatch center at 812-837-9536.

Source: WSBT