Armed with baby bottles of warm milk, Hunter Meyer approached the deer pen on her family’s ranch Saturday night.
Hours earlier, the deer were fine. Now, the fawns raced to the fence in panic, hearts pounding. When she looked more closely in the dark, Meyer saw bloody gashes on the animals’ brown spotted fur.
The Texas family initially assumed the culprit was a bobcat or coyote, but they didn’t see any animal dig marks. David Meyer, her father, paced the pen and soon found the real predator: a string of eight inflated nylon balloons.
As the balloons floated into the pen, they likely spooked the 3- to 4-month-old animals — Rudy, Tootie and Tejas — causing them to thrash against the fence.
The owners of 4 Generations Ranch in Crawford are now pushing for a statewide ban as they warn others about the dangers of balloon releases. The ranch’s post on Facebook about the incident has been shared more than 5,000 times. Photographs show the deer with cuts on their faces and bodies, and a string of pink, blue, orange and black balloons.
“Balloons don’t go to heaven,” Meyer told The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday. “What goes up must come down.”
Balloon launches have long been a ceremonial part of birthday parties, graduations and memorial services. But Meyer said she has long witnessed the threat of balloons on the family’s ranch, which is about 20 miles west of Waco. Livestock and other animals can ingest pieces and choke, or the animals can get tangled in balloon strings and be strangled.
Frequently, balloons land in oceans and waterways, where they are 32 more times likely to kill seabirds than other types of plastic.
At 4 Generations, this is the second time in the past eight months that balloons have landed near the animals. The last time, Meyer said, ranchers were outside and immediately removed balloons tangled in a fence.
At least five states — California, Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia — have banned or restricted balloon releases. Some cities, including Galveston, have passed ordinances prohibiting launches. A bill to ban balloon releases in Texas was introduced in 2023 but stalled in committee.
Meyer is urging people to contact their lawmakers to show support for the law, and she suggested finding other ways to celebrate or mourn, such as releasing butterflies or planting a tree.
Four days after the balloons landed, Meyer said, the injured deer are a little sore, but their wounds are healing. The balloons, she added, were deflated and tossed in the trash.
