Posted on 05/19/2009 9:37:42 AM PDT by nickcarraway
A family of ducklings had to be saved – after falling down a drain in a Hampshire town. Seven of the 10 baby ducks had fallen into a sewer while following their mother along a road.
But fortunately for them they were all reunited thanks to drinkers in a nearby pub who launched an amazing rescue mission.
The ducklings and their motADVERTISEMENT
her had been waddling past the Delme Arms in Fareham when events took an unfortunate turn.
Christina McGill, 29, of Queens Road, Fareham, and the daughter of pub landlord Paul Eley, said: 'We saw the ducks walking past in a line and then the mother went over a drain and all of a sudden it was plop, plop, plop and seven of the ducklings fell down.We couldn't believe it. They just all started disappearing.
'So we ran over and looked down and you could see them floating in the water. The mother duck was looking quite distressed.
'We just thought "we've got to get them out of there". We couldn't just leave them there, we had to help.'
About eight people were involved in the rescue.
Jim Dowling used a fishing net to get the ducks out.
'It was a bit of a struggle, lifting the drain and reaching them in the sewer below. But we had to get those guys back to their mummy,' said the 42-year-old of Snapdragon Close, Locks Heath.
'We managed to get four out but there were three still down there which had disappeared.'
Rescuers feared the ducklings were dead.
But amazingly they had gone through the sewer and popped up on the other side of the road.
Animal rescue specialist Buster Brown, from Hampshire Fire and Rescue, said: 'A man across the road called to us and said three ducklings had popped up in the creek.
'We ran over and there were no other ducks around, so it was obvious these were the three ducklings.
'Somehow they'd gone under the road, through about 150m of pipe work, and then popped up the other side.
'If it hadn't been for the quick work of the members of the public, things could have been very different.
'We can be pretty sure some of them would not have survived.'
REPEAT PERFORMANCE
The duck rescue happened outside the Delme Arms in Fareham on Sunday, May 10. Amazingly, just five days later, another family of ducks needed rescuing – this time from the pub's garden.
A mother and her eight ducklings had got stuck in the mud in the pub's old disused pond.
The mother duck was trying to get her ducklings out. But she needed the help of animal rescue specialist Buster Brown, from Hampshire Fire and Rescue.
He got all the ducks out, but one of the ducklings was in such a bad state it needed to be taken to the RSPCA Stubbington Ark.
With butter and onions, bake at 375, serve with garnish and a good wine.
Nice to see basic humanity still exists now and then.
Smartass
Anyone who has spent any amount of time drinking in a pub will recognize duckling rescue as a perfect example of a task that would unite a pub drinkers in a common cause immediately followed by toasting the mission’s success.
No fun without pictures. Here’s a really good duck and ducklings rescue story with photos: http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/amazingduck.asp
One of those “hold muh beer” moments with a happy ending....
ping
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