from the register

Italian mountaintop cervine dopefest
By Lester Haines
Published Monday 2nd July 2007 13:35 GMT

Italian police busted two would-be marijuana cultivators after "unusually frisky" deer alerted the authorities as to the presence of their mountaintop dope plantation, UPI reports.

Locals in Trento began telling tales of the abnormally high-spirited animals, while forest rangers began to wonder why the normally shy and straight-laced cervine population was letting it all hang out by day and "making great leaps on the mountainside".

Rangers duly made their way to the top of the suspect mountain, and discovered "some plant pots and shredded marijuana". The pair responsible for the high-altitude high facility - a factory worker and a university student in their 20s - were cuffed when they ascended the peak on a harvesting mission.

Despite the seemingly damning nature of the prosecution's case, defence lawyers say the charges may yet be dropped since the deer had eaten most of the evidence. Reports that some Trento residents were awoken from their beds at 2am by pothead Bambis demanding bowls of Rice Krispies are unconfirmed.