Police in France alert drivers to ‘unpredictable’ hazard of drunken deer – National

Officials in France are warning drivers to keep an eye out for drunks on the road — but rather than the human kind, it’s animals they need to be cautious of.

Spring marks the beginning of inebriation season for wild animals, French officials with the Gendarmerie de Saône et Loire, a branch of the armed forces responsible for law enforcement in rural areas, said in a Facebook post last week, adding that the consumption of rotting materials can lead to erratic movements.

“In spring, some wild animals consume buds, fermented fruits or decomposing vegetables … and can have completely unpredictable behaviour,” a translation of the French statement says.

“The danger includes sudden dangerous crossings onto roadways, unpredictable movements, immobilization on roads, and disorganized fleeing,” it continues.

Police said that wobbly animals can be dangerous to drivers if they are not vigilant, and shared a now viral video of an intoxicated deer in France’s Burgundy region running in circles and rolling frantically on the ground before finding its way back to its feet and sauntering to a nearby field to hammer home the point.

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“If Bambi is having a little too much of the forest’s offerings, maybe it’s not the time to drive as if the road were all yours … right?” the post continued.

According to an ecological study published in 2025 in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, alcohol consumption is common in nature.

Findings by experts at the University of Exeter suggest that ethanol is not only present in many wild fruits, saps and nectars but has also played a role in shaping the evolution of many species and in structuring “symbiotic relationships among organisms, including plants, yeast, bacteria, insects, and mammals.”

Deer are not the only animals to appear drunk in the wild; consumption has also been noted among wasps, according to the study, which cites anecdotal evidence suggesting the insects get drunk on fermented fruit and that certain species of beetles consume beer.

Though rarely discussed in academic literature, stories of drunk animals abound, including in larger mammals, such as elephants and baboons, that apparently get “drunk” on marula fruit in Botswana, the study says.

It also notes a tale of a moose found stuck in a tree in Sweden, which was reportedly drunk on fermented apples, though ethanol was never confirmed in the mammal.

It is possible they could have consumed alcohol given to them by humans, the study says.

“For example, wild green monkeys introduced to the Caribbean during the 1600s take alcoholic fruit cocktails from tourists on St. Kitts.”

Flying accidents have also been reported in birds that have consumed fermented berries.

Some researchers have questioned whether animals, especially elephants and other large species such as elk, can even get drunk, given their size and the limited amount of alcohol available in their natural habitats.

A 2020 study found that elephants, along with many other mammals, lack a key enzyme needed to break down ethanol. The study also noted that some animals regularly eat fruit containing enough alcohol to make humans drunk, but have no intoxicating effects on other species.

Last year, a Virginia liquor store worker found an intoxicated raccoon splayed on its stomach in the bathroom. The critter reportedly fell through the ceiling, drank itself silly, knocked bottles off the shelves and stumbled into a toilet stall before passing out.

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