A man was observing a cute little duck family cross the road together and was delighted by them — until he watched as, one by one, each tiny duckling accidentally fell down into a nearby drain.
The mother duck could see her babies down in the drain but couldn’t get to them, and waited helplessly nearby, hoping she would somehow be reunited with them.
The man immediately knew that he needed to help this sweet family, and quickly contacted the RSPCA to see if they could send someone out to rescue them.
“The man could see the ducklings swimming in the grate, but they were unable to get out, and their mother was getting stressed, so he contacted us for help,” Jenny Bethel, an inspector with the RSPCA, said in a press release. “Using one fishing net to block the drainage hole and another to scoop them out, I was able to safely catch them and put them into a box.”
In order to release the ducklings and reunite them with their mom as safely as possible, Bethel decided to lead the duck mom to a nearby lake and do the reunion there.
As she walked with the box of ducklings, their mom followed closely behind, so eager to finally be back with her babies.
Once they reached the lake, the mom duck hopped into the water, and Bethel let her babies out of the box. Of course, the ducklings immediately knew exactly where to go.
“It was great to see them happily run into the water and swim off after the mum,” Bethel said.
When her babies fell down into the drain, the mom duck knew there was no way she was leaving without them, and was so grateful that someone was there to help rescue them.