feWisconsin Officials: Letter Warning Residents That Lawn Ornaments May Be Included In State Deer Tally Is Fake

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In yet another instance proving you should not believe everything you read on Facebook, Wisconsin wildlife officials are trying to put the kibosh on a recent hoax letter making the rounds online, instructing people to make sure they remove deer lawn ornaments so they won’t be accidentally included in the state’s tally.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources posted a copy of a hoax letter that surfaced recently, warning residents that any concrete deer lawn ornaments need to be removed from yards, or they’ll be counted as part of the deer population.

Officials note that people have been contacting the department about the letter, which appears to come from DNR, complete with contact phone numbers and a graphic used by the department to make the letter appear official.

“The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will be conducting a state-wide deer count and some yard ornaments have been counted over the past two years by mistake,” the letter reads.

That isn’t the case, the department says in its Facebook post, so you can keep Bambi on your lawn.

“This letter is a fake. It was not crafted, nor distributed by DNR. DNR is not asking the public to remove concrete deer ornaments or any other lawn ornaments from their yard,” the notice reads.

Here’s a copy of the letter:

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist