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There isn’t a single species on the planet that consumes more alcohol than humans, but there are plenty of animals that have also figured out ways to get intoxicated in the wild. That includes the deer that police in France are advising drivers to keep an eye out for while driving the point home with a video that captured one of those animals in a very inebriated state.
There is archaeological evidence that suggests people have been purposefully producing their own alcohol for more than 13,000 years, which is the estimated age of stone containers discovered in Israel that once contained an ancient version of beer.
However, it is safe to assume humans have been consuming it for longer than that after stumbling across the naturally occurring substance. Booze is the end result of yeast converting sugars into ethanol, a process that people have managed to master and commoditize but is constantly unfolding in the wild thanks to the fruits and grains that serve as organic breeding grounds.
That can lead to some interesting situations for animals that end up consuming food that’s undergone that particular transformation, including one deer in France that seemingly managed to get pretty hammered while filling up.
Police in France are advising drivers to be aware of drunk deer that have the potential to cause issues on the road
Last year, researchers published a study that showed some chimpanzees in Africa consume the equivalent of 2.5 drinks per day based on the alcohol content of the fruit that makes up a substantial part of their diet.
Fermented apples are also known for causing some issues in areas where they’re grown, as evidenced by the case of a drunk moose that got stuck in a tree in Sweden in 2011 and an inebriated gang of the same mammals that prevented a man from entering his home in Stockholm a couple of years later.
That brings us to France, where drunken deer have emerged as a potential problem in the department of Saône-et-Loire.
Police in the region recently issued an alert where drivers were advised to keep their heads on a swivel for animals that may have lost some of their inhibitions after consuming a “forest aperitif” in the form of “fermented fruits or decaying plants,” and they provided an example of what their behavior might look like with a clip of a buck that was seen spinning around wildly in a field.
On the flip side, it does seem like hungover deer would pose less of a threat after they sleep it off, but it does not appear any scientists have taken the time to conduct a study on that particular front.