Ducks in the Drink - Firefighter Saves Mother's Day
Hapless ducklings returned to frantic mama duck, but who will save the firefighters? by Michael Monasky My son told a tale at Mother'...
https://www.elkgrovenews.net/2012/05/ducks-in-drink-firefighter-saves.html
Hapless ducklings returned to frantic mama duck, but who will save the firefighters?
by Michael Monasky
My son told a tale at Mother's Day brunch that he and his sister prepared for my wife this past weekend. His Saturday shift included an emergency call to a street corner in Discovery Bay where a duck marshaled her eight ducklings for a crossing.
As they approached the curb, one, then another, then all eight fell through a grate covering a storm drain. The mother duck frantically ran and quacked between one drain and an adjacent grate, back and forth, gathering a human crowd.
Someone called 911, and my son's engine detail responded. He grabbed a ladder, removed the grate, and descended into the darkness eight feet to the bottom. He could hear their cries for the mama duck...“me—me—me—me.” As they scurried away from him in fear, he scooped them up, one-by-one, with his gloved hand and added each one to a bag.
With all eight ducklings in hand, he emerged into the light of day to cheers and applause from the gathering crowd. The spectacle ended as he opened the bag; the tiny ducklings found and followed their ducky mother in single-file concordance.
The crowd's reaction was unlike any he had seen when rescuing humans. Meanwhile, the East Contra Costa fire department faces extreme cuts in July, and will likely lose half its workforce unless a parcel tax is passed on June 5. The ducks survived their ordeal. We'll have to wait for the story on the fate of the firefighter's future employment and community fire resources in the East Bay.
by Michael Monasky
My son told a tale at Mother's Day brunch that he and his sister prepared for my wife this past weekend. His Saturday shift included an emergency call to a street corner in Discovery Bay where a duck marshaled her eight ducklings for a crossing.
As they approached the curb, one, then another, then all eight fell through a grate covering a storm drain. The mother duck frantically ran and quacked between one drain and an adjacent grate, back and forth, gathering a human crowd.
Someone called 911, and my son's engine detail responded. He grabbed a ladder, removed the grate, and descended into the darkness eight feet to the bottom. He could hear their cries for the mama duck...“me—me—me—me.” As they scurried away from him in fear, he scooped them up, one-by-one, with his gloved hand and added each one to a bag.
With all eight ducklings in hand, he emerged into the light of day to cheers and applause from the gathering crowd. The spectacle ended as he opened the bag; the tiny ducklings found and followed their ducky mother in single-file concordance.
The crowd's reaction was unlike any he had seen when rescuing humans. Meanwhile, the East Contra Costa fire department faces extreme cuts in July, and will likely lose half its workforce unless a parcel tax is passed on June 5. The ducks survived their ordeal. We'll have to wait for the story on the fate of the firefighter's future employment and community fire resources in the East Bay.
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2 comments
Great story making a great point! Hope people will think about the consequences.
I've been seeing emails telling this "ducklings down the grating" story for several years now, with cute photos, but without the reference to the fire department cutbacks, of course.
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