CHP stop deer on the Bay Bridge for 'toll evasion'

This morning our officers stopped a doe for toll evasion, on the Bay Bridge. She said she usually pays it, but today she was a buck short. pic.twitter.com/KkkDJpn5Ck — CHP Oakland (@CHPoakland) August 29, 2017

A disoriented deer walked onto the Bay Bridge early Tuesday, causing CHP to post a groaner of a pun on Twitter:

"This morning our officers stopped a doe for toll evasion, on the Bay Bridge. She said she usually pays it, but today she was a buck short."

(Rim shot.)

Sharp-eyed observers immediately noticed a problem with the tweet, namely that the "doe" was sprouting antlers.

But why let gender identification get in the way of a good knee slapper?

CHP Public Information Officer Matthew Hamer said two officers on patrol at the Bay Bridge saw the buck at 3:30 this morning on eastbound I-80. No one was injured and it caused no traffic backup.

"It wandered down the onramp from Treasure Island," he said. "It stared at the officers for a couple minutes and then ran back."

Asked if this kind of thing happens often, Hamer said, "I haven't heard of that in quite some time."

It is not known how many deer live in Treasure Island. In the 1930s, deer were brought on the island for an exhibition about Oregon wild life. Possibly some were left there or escaped.

Or maybe they swam over from Angel Island, which has a sizable mule deer population, according to the 2003 book "Natural History of the Islands of California" by Allan A. Schoenherr, C. Robert Feldmeth and Michael J. Emerson.

The book notes that mule deer are good swimmers.