One day, as the woman was on her way to work, she heard the sound of weeping ducklings coming from a drainage tunnel. She then saw the mother duck stranded, sobbing nonstop near the tunnel’s entrance. The mother duck appeared to be pleading for assistance to anybody who would listen as she yearned terribly for her young.
The duck mom wouldn’t give up, and the next day the woman tried to go into the tunnel herself to find the babies, but the water was deep and the tunnel was incredibly dark, so she realized she wasn’t properly equipped to handle the situation.
Instead, she contacted Dan Martin, a local wildlife rescuer, who quickly traveled out to the tunnel in hopes of finding the trapped ducklings.
Martin began wading carefully into the tunnel, trying to follow the sound of the chirping ducklings, and it quickly became clear to him that there was no way the ducklings would ever be able to get out of this situation on their own.
“It soon became apparent why they were trapped inside the tunnel as the opening had a large drop far too high for them to jump up to escape,” Martin told The Dodo. “I can only assume the current had swept them down there.”
After light the night for some time without knowing if he was headed in the correct direction or not…
… The little ducklings were ultimately discovered by Martin, who saw them desperately searching for their mother like they had been doing on the street. They were rushing around the tunnel in a pack.
Unfortunately, one of the ducklings hadn’t made it, but the remaining ducklings all seemed to be just fine, so Martin scooped them up and began the trek out of the tunnel.
Once he and the ducklings emerged from the drainage tunnel, Martin was delighted to see the mother duck was still there, waiting diligently for her babies to be returned to her.
“I loaded the little guys into my car and was about to head home to feed them up when I noticed mama duck on a nearby roof,” Martin said. “She hadn’t given up on them.”
Martin guided the mother duck to a secure, grassy spot away from the road in order to ensure the family’s safety. He made sure the mother could see her ducklings, … and reunited the ducklings with their worried mom at last.
As soon as the ducklings’ feet hit the grass, they raced to their mother, and the family disappeared into the bushes, so grateful to finally be together again.
“It was the best feeling,” Martin said.
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