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Deer jumps from trunk during vehicle inspection

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Public safety officers taking a look at a suspicious car got more than they bargained for when a supposedly dead deer hopped out of the trunk.

It all happened just before 2:30 a.m. on Cork Street in Kalamazoo.

Police noticed a man sitting in his car behind the Red Roof Inn early Tuesday  morning.

"Part of a normal duty for night shift officers or day shift officers would be to check local hotels for any suspicious activity," explained Lt. Stacey Geik with Kalamazoo Public Safety.

When police walked up to the car, the man explained that he had a dead deer in the trunk.

The man said that he had hit the deer, assumed he killed it, and put it in the trunk to take home for dinner.

He didn't realize though, that the deer had other plans, as it popped out of the trunk to greet officers.

"The officer was certainly surprised," said Lt. Geik. "One held his ground better than the other as the video indicated."

As for car/deer crashes, they happen more often than you might think.

Lt. Geik told Newschannel 3 that Michigan has one of the highest rates of these types of crashes in the country.

"If the driver wants to, they can ask for what's called a salvages permit to be able to take the deer for human consumption," Geik explained.

This one certainly wasn't prepared to become food, however, as it seems the deer was only knocked out when it was loaded into the car.