Around noon on Monday, a mother duck and one duckling peered down into the darkness of a storm drain, hearing the cries of 11 ducklings, which had fallen in. Lucky for the ducklings, a concerned resident called the Longmont Emergency Communications Center who came to the rescue in the 900 block of Hover Street.
The Longmont Police Department and Animal Control arrived and noticed two ducks that they called “mom and one other sibling” hanging out around the grate of the sewer. According to Officer Allison Lockhart with the Longmont Police Department, various tools were used to reach inside of the storm drain and collect the ducklings, but none of the tools were long enough to reach the bottom. After several failed attempts, it became obvious that someone was going to have to go in after the ducklings. Longmont Fire Department was called to remove the grate of the sewer.
Lockhart was designated to go in after the duckling and lowered herself into the storm drain. Using a net, she was able to gather a few of the ducklings and send them up to safety. However, the remaining ducklings ran around, dodging her efforts to collect them with a net.
“So we played that game for a while,” Longhart said with a laugh.
After a few moments, Lockhart realized the ducklings were attracted to and would gather under the light illuminated from a flashlight.
All 11 ducklings were removed from the sewer and relocated by the officers to Roger’s Grove Park, “where they are still ... Longmont residents,” according to the original report.
Photos are courtesy of Longmont Public Safety on Facebook.
