Not your standard deer attire. Image Credit: Andrea Arnold / The Rocky Mountain Goat / YouTube
The hapless animal was spotted several times wandering around with the yellow jacket fully zipped up.
Deer being hit by cars remains an ongoing problem - especially on the remote roads of British Columbia - but it turns out that there is at least one deer that won't have any difficulty being seen by drivers on the roads at night.
The animal, which has become the subject of a peculiar mystery in the remote mountain community of McBride, has been sighted wandering around while wearing a bright yellow high-visibility jacket.
The deer was first spotted by local reporter Andrea Arnold who had been driving in the area on Sunday when she noticed the animal and slowed down to take a closer look.
"I did more than a double take, to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing," she said.
"How did it get on the deer and who is responsible? And why would someone do it?"
Before long, images of the deer had sparked some lively debate on social media, with some arguing that the jacket could actually help to keep the animal safe when crossing roads and others concerned that it could become snagged on tree branches and prevent the deer from being able to move.
So far, local authorities have been unable to track down the animal, despite its bright clothing.
"It's astonishing [to] me that someone was able to get it on the deer without serious injury to either party," Sgt Eamon McArthur of the BC conservation officer service told CTV News.
"I hope the jacket comes off either on its own or with help from conservation officers before it becomes a problem for the deer."
Apparently, in this area of BC, deer venture into town because some locals feed them. This one may have felt comfortable enough with humans to allow someone to place the vest on it. Some are speculating it may have been done to protect the deer from getting struck by a vehicle, but the really sad thing is that the vest is a death trap. The deer will not survive if it's not removed.
It'll be okay. Highly visible to oncoming traffic and will scare the bejesus out of predators. Someone probably raised a lost fawn and put that on it when it grew up and could fend for itself. I think the possibility of snagging is minimal.
That never occurred to me. It makes more sense than that someone could have dressed a wild deer. Sometimes, especially as I get older, grasping the most "obvious" doesn't come as easily
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