Leaping deer injures cyclist in Glacier Park

A rider was hospitalized after colliding with a buck deer that attempted to jump over his motorcycle Sunday on Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road.

The 56-year-old man from Anchorage, Alaska, was traveling eastbound with two other riders near Logan Creek when the accident happened, according Wade Muehlhof, a park public affairs officer.

“Apparently a buck bounded into the road and attempted to jump the motorcycle,” Muehlhof said. “A hoof clipped the driver on the helmet and knocked him off the motorcycle into a ditch.”

The rider had no idea what happened, Muehlhof said.

“As unusual as that it is, the ranger [who responded] said this is the second one he’s worked on where the deer tried to jump a motorcycle,” Muehlhof said.

The man was taken by Three Rivers Ambulance to North Valley Hospital with injuries that apparently were not life-threatening.