Friendly animals

I was sitting on the small tower on the bow of my

 boat, returning from a day of fishing, around Sanibel

 Island when I heard a strange noise.  Frequently sea

 gulls and terns would follow me and they would 

squawk for a free meal, but this was a different and

 out of place sound.  After looking all around, I finally 

spotted a Cockatiel, right above my head.  I stopped

 the boat and the bird immediately landed on the

 fishing nest in the stern of the boat.  I went back and

 picked up the exhausted  bird and looked around. 

 We were at least 3 miles from any dry land, so I

 carried the bird back to my little tower, placed him 

in my lap, and headed for my fishhouse.  The little bird 

snuggled up as close to my belly as it could get and 

closed its eyes.  Eventually a friend who already had

 two Cockatiels took the bird.  

I thought of this little episode, when I saw the following article:

The   Best Day Of Fishing Ever!         
   

  I've  heard of  salmon jumping into boats  but   .  . Four were pulled   from the icy waters of Stephens Passage, Alaska  , by a  group      of  locals on   Tom  Satre's 62-foot charter vessel. Four juvenile   Sitka black-      tailed  deer swam  directly toward the  boat.  

        . 

       Once   the deer reached the boat, the four began to  circle the boat,  looking      directly  at the humans on board. Clearly,  the bucks were  distressed. With      help,  the  typically skittish and absolutely wild  animals came willingly  onto      the  boat. Once onboard, they collapsed with   exhaustion, shivering.           

Here   the rescued bucks rest on the back of Tom  Satre's boat, the Alaska  Quest.   All four deer were transported to Taku Harbour .  Once the  group      reached  the dock, the first buck that had  been pulled  from the water hopped      onto  the dock,  looked back, then leapt into the  harbour, swam to shore, and      disappeared  into the forest. After a bit of  prodding and  assistance from the      humans,  two  others followed suit, but  one  deer   needed more help.

 

    Here  he is being  transported by Tom 

 

Tom,   Anna and Tim Satre help the last of the "button"  bucks to its  feet.  They   did not know how long the deer had been in the  icy waters or  if  there  had been others who did not  survive. The good  Samaritans (humans) describe their experience as   "one of those defining moments in life.." I'm  sure it was for the deer as well.