Five Deer Leap to Deaths From W.Va. Garage
RANSON, W.Va. - Either they misjudged the distance or they couldn't take the traffic. For reasons that mystify authorities, five deer that made their way onto the top of a five-story parking garage suddenly leaped to their deaths Sunday.
Police Cpl. Steve Cox found the does' bodies on a service road to the Charles Town Races & Slots, next to a security van they'd narrowly missed.
"They took the plunge," he said. "It was just absolutely weird."
A woman called police when she saw the deer falling, and Cox said he found scratches and animal hair on the fifth floor, indicating that's where they had been.
It's unclear how the deer got into the garage, but Cox said they may have become frightened after getting trapped. Cars moving through the garage may have spooked them, he said.
Or they could have been fooled by trees that can be seen from the top of the garage, mistakenly thinking they were close to home.
The carcasses were given to passers-by for butchering.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051207/.../deer_suicides