COMOX -- A motorcycle rider escaped with only minor injuries after colliding with a deer along a rural road near Comox Thursday morning.
Comox firefighters responded to the call for a road rescue around 6:30 a.m. near Seal Bay Park along Bates Road near Anson Road.
They discovered a man laying in a ditch after his motorcycle had struck a deer, according to Comox Fire Chief Gord Schreiner.
"We've had a deer jump out of the forest and into the roadway," said Schreiner. "The motorbike collided with the deer."
"The deer is dead, the motorbike driver is fine," he said.
The stretch of roadway near the park is a common location for wildlife to be spotted, and the collision actually occurred next to a deer-crossing warning sign.
"This is a provincial park here," said Schreiner. "Lots of deer here so it's not uncommon, especially this time of the day."
The motorcyclist received only minor injuries but was taken to hospital by ambulance as a precaution.
Schreiner says a veterinarian that was on her way to work was the first to come upon the scene and provided medical assistance to the motorcycle rider, not the deer. The deer was unfortunately dead at the scene.
The fire chief offered this advice for other motorcyclists and vehicle drivers travelling through the area:
"Be careful all day long, but certainly first thing in the mornings and late in the evenings there are more deer moving around."
