[Alaska Quest](http://alaskaquestcharters.com/index.html) normally spends its days giving eco-tours in southeast Alaska to view whales, porpoise, and bears. But this time Tom Satre and his family were in the Taku Inlet when he spotted four juvenile black-tailed deer swimming towards his boat. They were about 1.2 miles away from shore. Tom explained, “*They swam right toward the boat. They were swimming in 2-foot chop, unable to see over the waves. They were circling the boat and looking as if saying ‘help us, help us.* *I formed a lasso with the mooring line and dropped it around their heads one at a time. They were about 85 pounds sopping wet. We were fortunate to have a low swim step at the stern, and I was able to pull them onboard. If we had to haul them over the side, I couldn’t have done it.”*
Tom opened up my back gate and helped the four deer onto the boat, where they collapsed from exhaustion. The animals were too tired to even shake the water off their fur.
*“The last one was in really poor shape. He was very hypothermic. I massaged him for 20 minutes trying to warm him up. He bleated like a little lamb. I think he was appreciative.”*
Once they reached the dock, the first deer that was pulled from the water hopped onto the dock and disappeared into the forest. After some prodding and help, two more followed. The last deer needed to be wheel-barrowed off the boat.
Soon the deer was back on his feet and joined the others in the forest.
