Eight ducklings fell into a storm drain. Thanks to a Merced woman, they’re back home

Eight baby ducks stuck in a storm drain were reunited with their mother after being rescued by a Merced woman and city firefighters.

Julene Cook, 53, said she and her brother were walking their dogs and picking up trash along the bike path behind Lowe’s in Merced on Monday when she noticed something odd.

“There’s this duck walking around quacking and I thought it was strange,” Cook told the Merced Sun-Star.

She said she’s heard of smaller animals, like ducks, who get stuck in storm drains and when she started walking over to the drain nearby she heard small quaking sounds.

“I looked down and saw at least four in there,” Cook said. “I tried lifting the grate, and I couldn’t lift that thing.”

Cook said a friend suggested she call the fire department and they arrived around 10:30 a.m.

Cory Haas, battalion chief for the Merced Fire Department, said when lifted the grate they found eight ducklings and used a hand tool to guide the ducklings into a five-gallon bucket to pull them out.

Cook said every so often the mother duck would come by and watch them as they pulled the ducklings out of the drain.

It’s normal for animals to get stuck in storm drains, Haas said, and the smaller animals can fall through the grates easily. If the ducklings weren’t rescued they probably would have died.

“As far as ducks go, I wouldn’t say it’s the first time,” Hass said. “As far as public assists involving animals we’ve done that for cats, dogs and even birds.”

While the fire department got the ducks out a couple at a time Cook kept the ducklings in the back of her car, Haas said.

“Julene actually remained at the scene and assisted us with the rescue,” Haas said. “She took them to the area where last saw the mama duck. She was the one who reunited them.”

Cook was able to stand by with the ducklings in case they had another emergency to attend to, Haas said.

“It was really Julene and her good intentions and we are more than happy to perform something like that but that can’t be our priority,” he said.

After all the ducklings were safely in the bucket, Cook said she saw the mama duck some out of the tall grass on the roadside. Cook tilted the bucket and the “chicks went running out.”

“It was a fun day,” she said. “Three cheers for them (firefighters).”

This story was originally published May 16, 2017 at 3:49 PM with the headline "Eight ducklings fell into a storm drain. Thanks to a Merced woman, they’re back home."