SLIDELL, LA — When firefighters with the St. Tammany Fire Protection District#1 found out that a mama duck was in distress in a Winn Dixie parking lot, they quickly found out why.
Firefighters say the duck was upset because her ducklings were trapped in a storm drain in the parking lot.
It happened at the Winn Dixie on East Gause Boulevard and Military Road. Firefighters say they were contacted by a store worker who noticed the distressed duck and could hear the duckling’s chirping.
Crews were able to locate the exact stretch of pipe where the baby ducks were trapped. They opened storm drain covers on both ends of the pipe and used ladders to step down into the holes and the standing water in the pipe below.
They carefully pushed the babies from one end of the pipe to the other.
The ducklings were collected and counted. In all, a dozen baby ducks were returned to a nearby field where their mother was waiting for them.
St. Tammany Fire Protection District #1 recorded the rescue. The entire thing took about 30-40 minutes. Click on the video button at the top of this page to see it!