Heroic woman steps into a storm drain to rescue ducklings who fell through the gaps

We often come across several instances on the internet where animals get stuck in some of the most unusual places, often including a bunch of man-made structures. Even though undomesticated animals getting trapped in muddy ground or falling through ice holes is pretty common in the wild, there are times when small creatures accidentally get themselves into situations where humans are required to rescue them. If these small creatures do not catch the attention of a kind soul, they just might end up starving to death or fall victim to larger predators.

Thankfully, when six little ducklings fell through the gaps of a storm drain lid, a woman showed up to become their savior. In a viral video posted by u/Unique_District_9381 on Reddit, a woman is seen to have stepped into the storm drain after removing its lid to save the animal family. The caption of the post pretty much explains what goes on in the video as it reads: "Hero woman attempting to save baby ducks from a storm drain." The woman plucks out all six ducklings one by one and places them near the mother duck. But at one point, the mother duck waddles away with only four rescued ducklings, completely forgetting that she has more stuck down inside the storm drain.

With all the ducks taken out safely by the unnamed woman, netizens must have sighed in relief. Comments from concerned people poured in as they appreciated the woman's efforts to rescue every single duckling. Some even joked about how the mother duck was ready to leave with only four rescued ducklings and didn't wait for the remaining two who were last to be rescued. u/HarnessMeDesignsOUB joked: "After she got some of them back she like 'ya, close enough let’s go…'"

@surajvj threw in a pun and wrote, "Congratulations for conDUCKting a smooth rescue operation. Does drainage cover with smaller gaps prevent this?" @u/Rich_Sell_9888 commented, "Ducks are not the best parents. We had them on the farm. They would steal each other's eggs and leave their eggs unattended. We would get a broody hen to incubate the eggs as they are far more dedicated."

It looks like this isn't the first time little ducklings have unfortunately slid through the gaps of these storm drain covers. According to The Washington Post, in 2016, the Animal Welfare League of Arlington saved six ducklings after they have fallen into the storm drains. With a long net and some duct tape, an animal control officer managed to bring the six baby ducks back to safety. In another similar instance, firefighters rescued eleven duckings from another storm drain incident on June 22, 2023, reports BBC. The baby ducks ended up tumbling at least 3 feet down the drain in Bocking End, Essex.

The firefighters managed to scoop out all of them safely and reunited them with the relieved mother duck. "They were frightened and didn't want to come out. However, we went back in the afternoon and managed to catch them using a small fishing net," the firefighter's crew manager, Paul Mayes, told the outlet. Storm drains might be useful in urban areas to help clear water clogs on the streets, but it also puts small creatures like these ducklings in danger.