Beggar’s Night

When I was growing up, Halloween was the official night for trick-or-treating. Regardless of what day of the week Halloween fell on, you went out to gather the tribute. That was the night you went around the neighborhood wearing your costume and knocked on doors asking for candy. If you didn't live in a particularly good area for the candy swag, you went to another, more sugar-flush neighborhood. It was a lot of fun and quite safe for kids back then.

But the really zealous ones among us, hungry for more sugar, would practice another ritual. They would don their costumes a night early and see if they could get extra loot. This night was known as "Beggar's Night". The loot wasn't as good, overall, but a fair number of people did give out treats even on the night before. Since then, and in other areas of the country, the term 'beggar's night' has come to mean the designated day for trick-or-treating. Sometimes before, sometimes after the actual day of Halloween. But I had no idea the idea of beggar's night had spread to the animal kingdom - and that it would be this long after the actual date of Halloween.

But in Michigan, they have a deer practicing Beggar's night.

CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A plastic jack-o'-lantern meant for collecting Halloween candy is threatening the life of a small, immature deer that calls a gated community home.

The fake pumpkin has been stuck on the animal's snout for at least several days. It hangs there like an orange-and-black feed bag from its thin handle, which appears to be snagged on the young buck's ears or horn buds.

Ironically, the container that resembles a feed bag and is intended to hold children's treats is instead keeping the animal from eating. It also looks as if the plastic pumpkin prevents the deer from drinking.

Animal experts who went Thursday to the neighborhood in Kent County's Cascade Township to assess the situation not only saw the deer but got to within 35 to 40 yards of him, said Bert Vescolani, director of the John Ball Zoo in nearby Grand Rapids.

Zoo personnel, as well as other animal experts, planned to return to the site Friday. If they see the deer, they hope to safely shoot a tranquilizer dart into him, remove the plastic jack-o'-lantern after the buck becomes unconscious, and then take the animal somewhere to recover until he can be released back into the wild.

Although Vescolani and the others got a good look at the buck, which has been spotted in a herd of several deer, they could not get close enough to make a good assessment of his physical condition. Still, the bucket was not impairing the animal's vision, and the deer looked strong, he said.

"He seems to be doing pretty well," Vescolani said. "I'm always amazed at how wildlife makes it sometimes, even under the hardest conditions."

Well of course he's doing just fine right now. Kids of any species can live quite well on a diet of pure sugar. That's the beauty of beggar's night!

categories Animals | Gaius Thursday, 9 November , 2006

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