Parma officials called the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which has no plans to help the deer.

"It is very difficult to try to tranquilize a free-ranging deer," wildlife officer supervisor Doug Miller said. "And our policy is, if we do tranquilize a deer, it must be euthanized."

Wildlife officers fatally shoot the deer they tranquilize because the drug taints the meat that could be consumed by people if the deer were killed by a hunter or motorist.

Miller said spraying a spot of brightly colored paint on the deer to show that it had been tranquilized is not an option, because the paint might wear off before the drug fully leaves the deer's body.

A deer was spotted last month in Broadview Heights with a plastic pumpkin stuck on its head. No one has reported seeing the deer lately, Miller said.

He recommends that people never leave food containers where wildlife can reach them.