A man in Kalamazoo was surprised to learn that the deer he hit with his car and put in his trunk wasn't so much dead as very much alive.

A local Public Safety Officer on patrol around 2 AM yesterday morning spotted a suspicious-looking person sitting in a vehicle parked behind a hotel and approached the scene to check it out.

The driver informed officer David Miller that he had recently struck a whitetail deer, and, assuming the deer was dead, had "intended on utilizing the meat from the road kill to feed his family," according to WOOD-TV.

The officer told the driver he wanted to check on the deer to ensure that it was properly tagged "with a kill permit or accident permit," and the man consented.

Slowly opening the trunk, Miller was shocked to discovered that the deer wasn't as deceased as previously claimed.

"Oh, he's still alive," the startled Miller said as the deer stumbled out of the car and onto the street in dramatic fashion reminiscent of the classic scene from cult comedy Tommy Boy.

After taking a second to reorient itself, the deer took off into the woods. Police believe the animal was merely stunned, and didn't sustain any serious injuries.

"You just never know what you're going to encounter," said KDPS Lt. Stacey Geik. "You never know. There could be worse things in trunks."

[H/T: HyperVocal, screengrab via MyFoxDetroit, video via WZZM]