When Christmas season rolls in, the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of the foremost animals figuring prominently during the holiday's festivities. However, for Carlton, Nottinghamshire locals in the UK, that may change, thanks to one reindeer named Bjorn.
"The reindeer, whose name is Bjorn, was reportedly startled by a car horn and sprinted away from the car park at the Tesco store in Carlton Hill, Nottingham, on Sunday," The Guardian reported. "He was later found in a garden and returned to safety."
The runaway was snapped by Warren Porter, who first thought Bjorn was a "big dog."
"As it got close I couldn't believe my eyes, so I took a photo. The reindeer looked so distressed," he told the BBC.
Another onlooker said the reindeer was almost hit by a bus.
"The reindeer was just being led out of its trailer when there was a loud beep from a car horn which must have startled it," Danny Hall said, as mentioned by ABC.net.au. "The poor thing looked really scared and just ran off."
According to Mashable, Bjorn was just one of two reindeer that made an appearance at a Tesco family event. As his handlers took him to his enclosure, he managed to break free and ran away.
"I was putting some Christmas cards up in the window and just saw it come charging down the street," Gemma Green, a local, was quoted as saying. "Then I saw a group of people following it."
"It was quite strange. It's like the scene from Arthur Christmas where Santa loses his reindeer," she added. "I thought I was seeing things at first."
The nine-year-old reindeer was later said to be well and resting in his stable.
"Although he slipped his lead, he was caught within 10 minutes and was able to attend the event calm and relaxed," explained Director Nathan Anderson-Dixon of The Animal Company, which organized the event.
"I'm very happy with the way the trainers handled the situation, their training really paid off," he added.
Further, an employee of the firm explained that reindeer "are flight animals by nature."
"Once they are in the pen they are fine, but because he got free he ran away," he told ABC.net.au.
"We managed to find him safely in the garden and get him back into the truck," he added. "Aside from that, everyone had a great time meeting Santa and having their pictures taken with the reindeer."
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