Watch out for tipsy deer on French roads, police tell drivers after viral video goes global

French police have issued an official road safety warning after footage of a visibly intoxicated deer went viral, not what you would typically expect from a law enforcement announcement.

Bambi has been at the forest bar again

Police in the Saône-et-Loire department posted a video to social media showing a deer frolicking erratically and running in tight circles after apparently consuming natural intoxicants. Stumbling around a field and falling over several times, the footage has now been viewed more than 300,000 times online.

Drunk Deer pic.twitter.com/jTv0jxN27K

— Onix Lan (@Onix_lan) May 13, 2026

Viewers were quick to have a laugh, with many quipping that the scenes looked like “Bambi after an apéro.” Although, behind the humour, police stress this is a genuine hazard for motorists.

How does a deer get drunk?

“In spring, some wild animals consume buds, fermented fruit or decaying vegetation and can exhibit completely unpredictable behaviour,” the Saône-et-Loire gendarmerie explained in a social media post.

Fermented and sugary foodstuffs found on forest floors and in trees contain naturally produced alcohol, which can affect animals in a similar way to humans, though in some cases the effect can be far more powerful than a typical glass of wine. 

Drivers must be aware

Police warned that drivers could encounter deer that suddenly bolt across roads, zigzag without warning, or become completely immobilised in the street.

Inebriated deer have been known to leap onto roads and into oncoming traffic, even on routes they would normally avoid due to noise and vehicle lights. Collisions can happen very quickly, particularly at night or on secondary roads, police cautioned.

Drivers are being told to reduce speed, stay alert, and avoid sudden steering manoeuvres, with extra vigilance urged in wooded areas.

Not the first animal to be over the limit

France’s tipsy deer may be grabbing the limelight, but it is hardly the first creature to overindulge on nature’s offerings. A moose in Sweden was famously found with its head stuck in a tree after staggering around a garden, having gorged on fermented apples. Chimpanzees in West Africa have been caught stealing palm wine, and tree shrews in Malaysia have been observed happily sipping fermented nectar. 

Cedar waxwings, a small North American songbird, are perhaps the most notorious repeat offenders, regularly tumbling from perches, bumping into each other and flying headlong into windows after feasting on fermented spring berries. Even insects are not immune.Bees find it impossible to fly after sipping overripe nectar, while wasps can become equally unsteady when feeding on rotten fruit. As one wildlife biologist put it, “Everything that happens when a person is drunk can happen to animals too.”