Two deer struggled in the waters of southeast Alaska. It’s a good thing some Alaska Wildlife Troopers motored by. They gave the deer a lift in their boat!

Sergeant Mark Finses and trooper Kyle Feuge were returning from a patrol in nearby Ernest Sound to Ketchikan on October 19. They spotted the deer. What were deer doing in the middle of the water, four miles from any island?

The deer were being swept down Clarence Strait, but not toward land. They fought the current. The troopers could tell the animals were exhausted.

“Out in the middle of Clarence, they’re in rough shape, like on their last leg,” Mr. Finses said in a video the troopers posted to social media.

The troopers stopped their boat about 150 yards from the two deer. They turned off the engines so the animals wouldn’t be spooked. The deer saw the boat and headed toward it.

When the deer reached the boat, they butted their heads against it. Next, they climbed right up onto the swim step. The troopers helped them get the rest of the way on board. Once in the boat, the deer shivered from their time in the cold water. (The average temperature of the water there in October is 50.4 degrees Fahrenheit.)

“I’m soaked to the bone,” Mr. Finses says in the video. “I had to pick them up and bear hug them to get them off our deck and get them on the beach.”

Once back on land, the deer had difficulty standing and walking at first. But soon they could walk around slowly before trotting off.

“The deer ended up being completely OK,” says Alaska Wildlife Troopers spokesman Justin Freeman.

It’s common to see deer swimming in the waters of southeast Alaska. They often travel from one island to another. But deer swimming up to a boat and trying to get on it? That’s another story!

He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. — Psalm 18:33