Make Way for the Duckling Rescue

While she can't actually tell us about it, we suspect it was a harrowing morning for a mother duck on Pequot Road.

Good thing a couple of Good Samaritans were ready to help out.

A passerby near 22 Pequot Road Wednesday morning noticed a duck hovering near a catch basin and unwilling to leave. A check of that basin revealed ducklings trapped deep in the ground.

Wayland Emergency Dispatch was notified and dispatchers in turn contacted the Wayland Department of Public Works. DPW Senior Foreman Joe Doucette and employee Joel Collins headed to the scene.

"Just another typical day," Doucette said wryly. He then added that this actually only happens about once every two years, and it is almost always ducks in the precarious situation.

Doucette said a neighbor produced a small net and Collins climbed down into the catch basin. All the while, the mother duck (well, it could have been a father duck) watched from about 25 feet away.

As Collins carried each duckling to the surface, Doucette collected it in the net and carried it to about 10 feet away from the waiting parent before putting the baby down and watching it walk to its caretaker.

"As I was unloading them, they were chirping away," Doucette said.

In all, the DPW duo rescued nine ducklings from the catch basin. Doucette said he doesn't know whether the ducklings fell through the grate or went through an up-take and couldn't then get back out.

Special thanks to Vinnie Smith for the photo submission. If you see something unusual going on in Wayland, snap a pic, post it to the site with the new Patch app or text it to 508-344-7464.