Cranston Heights firefighters rescue ducklings
Firefighters rescue ducklings from storm drain after their mother is struck and killed by traffic Saturday.
Rescuing ducklings from storm drains is not normally in Cranston Heights Fire Chief Joshua Hawk's duties, but that is what he and a handful of others were called to do Saturday morning.
"The baby ducks are pretty adorable, so it would be hard to say 'no,'" he said.
A passerby at the intersection of Old Capitol Trail and Centreville Road in Prices Corner saw a mother duck standing near the roadway around 9 a.m. Eight ducklings had fallen through the grates and were stuck, Hawk said.
As the passerby called police, the mother duck was struck and killed by a vehicle.
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Hawk and five other Cranston Heights firefighters responded to the scene and pried open the heavy storm drain. They then climbed into the six-foot deep drain and were able to rescue seven out of the eight ducklings after about an hour.
"We did try to locate the eighth one, but it was further down in the storm drains – 10 to 15 feet deep – so we were never able to locate it," Hawk said.
Each duckling was carefully placed in a cardboard box and a woman nearby who volunteers at Tri-State Bird Rescue in Newark offered to take them to the facility, he said.
Now at Tri-State, the ducks will receive good care, including seeing if any other mallards will adopt the ducklings as her own.
A staff member said the ducklings will also be placed in specialized water tubs and fed a diet for water fowl, including chopped greens and meal worms.
Hawk said last year the firefighters helped rescue goslings in a similar predicament. Hawk said, while outside the normal line of duty for a firefighter, he and the others are happy to help the adorable babies.
"They are pretty precious," Hawk said.
Contact Jessica Masulli Reyes at 302-324-2777, jmreyes@delawareonline.com or Twitter @JessicaMasulli.