They call him Sugar Bob: a southern Oregon deer who spends his days eating marijuana plants. (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

Video: Pot-eating deer has made it to the big time, a.k.a. ‘The Daily Show’

RUCH, Ore. — A YouTube video has transformed a laid-back deer named Sugar Bob that lives on the grounds of the Applegate River Lodge into a late-night television star.

And like a true diva, Sugar Bob declines to stoop to the level of actually interacting with the media. Instead, the former forest denizen leaves that distasteful chore to Richard Davis, who co-owns the lodge with his wife, Joanna.

In fact, when Davis handed the phone to Sugar Bob to talk to a reporter recently, there was nothing but silence, which forced Davis to take back the receiver and handle the interview.

Sugar Bob and Davis stole the show on a recent episode of the satirical “Daily Show” program, which is hosted by Jon Stewart and airs on the Comedy Central network.

“They’re from New York. They kind of think of Oregon as this crazy state of nothing but pot smokers,” Davis said.


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In all fairness to Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj, who traveled with a film crew to Applegate, Sugar Bob does consume cannabis, and Davis is an open proponent of medical marijuana.

With that backdrop, the segment that aired March 25 featuring Sugar Bob and Davis was titled “Sugar High” and was presented as a tongue-in-cheek counterpoint to several anti-marijuana segments by Fox News, which were aired to open the short piece.

Minhaj, who Davis described as a nice young man, satirically tried to portray Davis as a drug kingpin.

For instance, there’s a shot of a heading on a sheet of paper titled Richard “Pa Butt” Davis and his connection to medical marijuana.

In the Comedy Central piece, Minhaj also compares Davis to Pablo Escobar, the notorious Colombia drug lord, and draws parallels to the movie “Scarface,” starring Al Pacino as a drug kingpin.

A smiling Davis responds by calmly stating he doesn’t deal with drugs, he deals with medicine.

In another scene, Minhaj refers to Davis’ vicious guard dog, which happens to be a gentle, slow-moving, 14-year-old beagle named Trooper D (the D is short for Davis).

“I love him. He’s my best friend,” Davis said of Trooper.

Minhaj proved a perfect foil for Davis’ subtle humor.

Isn’t weed ruining the great state of Oregon, Minhaj wondered? Davis said rather than a destructive influence, he thinks of it as a solution.

As a drug kingpin rolling in money, what comes next for Davis, Minhaj asked.

“Power,” Davis said.

Then what, the Daily Show correspondent asked.

“Women,” Davis said.

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Information from: Daily Courier