A family of wayward ducklings trapped in a storm drain got a helping hand from an Oak Bay firefighter Friday morning.
Acting Asst. Chief Duane Adsett said he got a call from a woman on her way to work who noticed a mother duck and one duckling scurrying around the drain, near Cadboro Bay Road at Bee Street.
“They noticed a number of ducklings stuck in the catch basin and they were unable to get it open,” said Adsett.
He was willing to help "quack" open the case, and came down to open the grate and free the seven trapped ducklings as their mother waited anxiously nearby.
“At first I tried to reach down and just grab them but they’re fast, and they would just dive under the water,” said Adsett.
Fortunately, the woman who found them had a wicker basket that proved to be the right tool for the job.
“It was just enough to scoop them up and set them on the ground, and they ran away to mom,” he said. “Then they all headed off back down to the creek.”
Adsett is usually in the business of saving human lives, and said he’s never rescued ducklings before.
“It’s just another part of the job, solving problems and trying to make everything back to as normal as possible for everybody,” he said.
