Two deer stranded in a southeastern Alaska waterway last week gladly accepted a ride from state troopers.
In a Facebook video, Alaska State Troopers sighted the deer swimming 4 miles offshore in the Clarence Strait as they returned to Ketchikan from Earnest Sound, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Spokesperson Justin Freeman told the newspaper in a news release that the deer were fighting the current and were floating down the strait and were not close to the shore.
The animals saw the boat and bolted for it, according to one troopers video that was posted online. Troopers turned off the boat’s engine so the animals would not become frightened, the Daily News reported.
“Both deer ran into the side of the boat with their heads, indicating they wanted on board,” Freeman told the newspaper. “The deer quickly swam over to the troopers on the swim step and let the troopers remove them from the water and place them on the back deck.”
Troopers said the animals were in “rough shape” and appeared to be exhausted and stressed, Freeman said.
The troopers guided their vessel to a beach in Clarence Strait and took the deer off the boat, the Daily News reported.
While shaky at first, the deer finally could stand under their own power and trotted away, Freeman told the newspaper.
