NATCHEZ — With the river rising and no place to go, Bambi sought solace on the grounds of Temple B’Nai Israel.

A call came in at noon to the Natchez Police Department informing the police that a deer was trapped in the fence at the temple, Police Chief Mike Mullins said.

By the time police officers arrived, the deer had freed itself from the fence and traveled down the steps leading to the basement of the temple.

A game warden from Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks restrained the deer by tying its legs.

Lisa Freeman, animal control officer for the Natchez Animal Control Department, was called in by the game warden because her catch-pole was needed.

Freeman said after the deer, a doe weighing approximately 80 pounds, was caught it was taken to the woods to be released by the game warden.

It’s not too uncommon to find deer in town when the river is high, Freeman said.

The rising river pushes the deer out of the woods and into town.

“When the river gets up, the deer come running through town,” Freeman said.

Adams County Sheriff Ronny Brown agreed with Freeman.

“They are a problem as high as the water gets,” Brown said.

He said if they do get downtown they can cause some damage.

“One (deer) one time ran through a plate glass window,” he said.