Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) Troopers and the Sequoyah County Sheriff wrestled a nine-point buck to the ground on the interstate near Vian Sunday morning.

OHP Trooper Sheldon Dobbs said Trooper Jeremy Weedon was in the center median on Interstate 40 around 9 a.m. when a car pulled next to him and informed him that a deer was on the road.

Weedon found the deer and tried to run the deer back into the woods several times but the deer just kept coming back toward the interstate, Dobbs explained.

Sequoyah County Sheriff Ron Lockhart said that when he arrived the deer kept walking around in circles. He said the deer looked healthy but it obviously had problems.

Authorities planned on tying up the deer and letting it loose in a safe area away from the interstate, but when authorities tried to wrestle it down to tie it up the deer kicked an OHP trooper.

“The deer was creating a dangerous situation for drivers on the interstate,” Dobbs said.

Troopers suggested that drivers who come across a deer in the road to keep driving forward. They said do not swerve to miss any animal that is in the roadway because the potential for a life threatening accident is more likely.

When Oklahoma Game Ranger Jerry Henry arrived, the troopers, the sheriff and Henry determined the deer was not well, so Henry shot and killed it.

The dashcam video from Lockhart’s vehicle recorded the scene.

“I believe the deer was sick. It appeared to have stomach problems,” Henry said.

Henry said it is possible the deer was previously shot in the lower stomach area and could have been suffering some sort of disorder from that.

The deer was not sent off for testing but it was disposed of properly.

Henry said he didn’t think it had a disease.

“This is the rut season. That could have played a role in the way the deer was behaving,” Henry said.

Dr. Gary Cox said there are a few diseases possible but not likely.

Deer diseases

Cox said deer can be victims of various diseases. He said one disease called Bluetongue can cause blistering of the tongue and cause the animal not to eat because it is too painful.

He said bluetongue, a viral disease, is primarily found in sheep. Cox said occasionally goats, deer, and cattle do get sick with the disease.

According to the Web site www.deerhuntersclub.com, “Bluetongue disease is spread by biting midges like flies or gnats. Some of the symptoms of this disease are high fever, excessive salivation, and swelling of the facial area and tongue. The blue tongue that gives the disease its name occurs only in a small number of cases. Once the deer is bitten and infected with the virus most symptoms will began to show within a few weeks.

The death rate is usually low but tends to be more noticeable in seasons of high temperatures and little rain. When a deer is infected with the virus their extremely careful nature is often changed. They move toward water and shade to try to comfort themselves from the high fever. They are less fearful of humans, and lose their appetite for food. Death can come from hemorrhages of the heart or other glands and starvation. The disease is nontransferable to humans. Biting insects infected with the disease can only carry it.

Cox said the deer on the interstate more likely had a head injury then bluetongue disease.

“It could have been the season. Deer this time of year are only thinking about one thing—does,” Cox said.

According to www.cwd.org Web site, “another disease, a degenerative brain disease similar to mad cow disease - called Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer and elk was confirmed in a captive elk herd in Oklahoma County, but has never been documented in wild deer or elk in Oklahoma. Even if the disease did exist in wild herds, there has never been a confirmed case of a hunter contracting it through hunting or eating venison.”

Even though CWD was found in a elk herd in Oklahoma CWD has not been found in deer in Oklahoma according to Henry.

“We don’t know why the deer was acting that way,” Henry said.