Animal Control Officer Saves Ducklings From Storm Drain in Ingenious Way
When you're the size of a tennis ball, even taking a walk is potentially hazardous. On Wednesday, 11 ducklings in Hayward, California found that out the hard way.
While strolling across the Chabot College campus with their mother and one sibling, the ducklings fell through a grate and into a storm drain, where they languished until Hayward Animal Control Officer Susan Perez devised a plan to rescue them. Hint: it involved an Internet connection.
The ducklings' plight came to the attention of the authorities when a passerby noticed that the "mama duck was quacking loudly" and apparently notified the college's maintenance and operations department, according to a Facebook post by the Hayward Police Department.
When maintenance and operations staff removed the grate, however, the ducklings, presumably terrified by the appearance of enormous predators, only "scattered deeper into the pipes," worsening their predicament.
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Finally, Perez, who has experience removing "a variety of animals" from storm drains, arrived on scene. In a moment of brilliance, she used her phone to play a recording of a mother duck vocalizing "to draw [the ducklings] closer to her." It had the desired effect.
One by one, the ducklings emerged from the pipes, where Perez caught them and returned them to their mother. In the second of three photos that were included in the Facebook post, she is shown cradling one of the little birds in both hands, her phone face-up on the concrete next to her.
Many commenters on the post praised Perez's creativity.
"Susan rocks!" wrote one user.
"Go Officer Perez!!! Not all heroes wear capes!" wrote another.
"On behalf of the ducks "Quack You very much!" said one.
"So smart to do that. Wow. I love how she thinks outside the box to problem-solve. We need more female officers like her. She works with animals, but imagine how that kind of compassion would work on human beings. A little caring and understanding goes a long way. Blessings to Susan," wrote one gracious viewer.
Some confirmed that Perez's technique is sound.
"I've done that before getting them out of a storm drain on Bay Farm! It took a while to coax out all of them but it worked!!" said one user.
From the third photo, it appears that the mother duck eventually trotted off with her brood, hopefully to give them a lecture on road safety.
