Firefighters rescue mother, baby ducks from sewer drain
Ypsilanti Township firefighters took a picture of these ducklings with a cellphone soon after rescuing them from under a sewer grate. The mother also was rescued.
Courtesy of the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department
Five ducks were saved from a sewer drain Sunday in Ypsilanti Township.
A mother duck and four ducklings were reported trapped six feet down in a sewer grate near Eagle Trace and Breezewood Court at 11:55 a.m., according to Capt. Larry James.
“A concerned citizen probably walked by and heard them quacking,” he said.
The citizen called the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department to report the ducks' situation.
Firefighters Mike Houghton and Mile Helisek lifted up three sewer grates, which weigh about 120 pounds, and somehow coaxed the four ducklings and mother duck into a bucket with a rope on it.
The ducks were then lifted to safety and released.
“The ducks were reunited with their mother and waddled away happy,” James said.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
chipper
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 4:42 p.m.
Especially after reading the story about the vandalism of the Peony Garden, it's good to see something more positive. Thanks to the person who cared enough to call the Fire Department, and to the firefighters for doing such a good job rescuing the ducks.
Hmm
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 1:56 p.m.
Survival of the fittest
Guinea Pig in a Tophat
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 1:27 p.m.
Nice to read a happy story! Glad the ducklings were saved!
CobraII
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 12:25 p.m.
WHY??????????
tdw
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 12:38 p.m.
Why what ? please explain
tdw
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 11:20 a.m.
Wow.......some people will complain about anything and take a shot at Ypsi ( all it takes is the word Ypsilanti ) whenever possible.Ron I live in Ypsi township and I'll bet you my house is bigger and nicer than yours and I the last time I saw the Sheriff in my neighborhood is when someone died ( stroke ) But anyway...Being the mean heartless right wing Republican I am it's nice too see a article that's not a total bummer Robin we are better than animals we rescue ducklings from sewers that's what makes us humans
grimmk
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 3:20 a.m.
A society should be judged on how it treats its poor and animals. Shame on those who would even think on hurting those ducklings. And shame on your mother.
jns131
Wed, Jun 6, 2012 : 2:32 a.m.
Warm fuzzy moment. If you go up towards Green road and Hubbard there are 8 ducklings and 2 parents who always seem to show off their brood around 4 in the afternoon. Might want to go see if they need anything. Just past Dean I think.
Kitty O'Brien
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 4:20 a.m.
Agree, grimmk. Parents need to exhibit and encourage our children to have compassion for animals.
Dog Guy
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 2:22 a.m.
Ding, dong, bell, Ducklings in the catchbasin. Who put them in? Little Johnny Green. Who pulled them out? Little Tommy Stout. What a naughty boy was that, To try to drown poor ducklings, Who ne'er did him any harm, But killed all the mice in the farmer's barn. APB on John Green. Young citizen nomination for Thomas Stout.
jns131
Wed, Jun 6, 2012 : 2:29 a.m.
This reminds me of my neighborhood watch meeting tonight, where a house I believe on Maplewood was inundated with over 500 mice. Yes, mice trying to find food. Kind of scary to think of mice jumping around for food.
stihl1
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 1:40 a.m.
Thank God for these fire fighters.
Doug
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 12:56 a.m.
Dennis - Why not save some animals in distress? It's not as though the firefighters walked away from a three-alarm blaze to do this. Joe B - Truth be told, the firefighters were already on duty - and, thus, already getting paid. Thus, this rescue run probably cost only the minimal amount of diesel fuel to get the trucks to and from the rescue site. Costed out, each Ypsi. Twp. citizen probably paid less than one cent for this run. If you don't like this allocation of resources, then you should probably move to a third-world country.
jns131
Wed, Jun 6, 2012 : 2:26 a.m.
Most times if the fire fighters are not doing much of anything, they will use this as exercise training. I remember something like this one some specie of animal got got stuck in some drain and they used this as a way to help them train. Who knew.
joe.blow
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 12:44 a.m.
Yes, we need to increase their funding when they take on these amazing missions..... wait a second, we probably spent about $10,000 on this.
tdw
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 11:08 a.m.
How do you figure that ? they're being paid regardless.I bet you complain that they sit at the station doing nothing most of the time
Dennis
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 12:44 a.m.
God forbid a few ducks die, what would we do then.
jns131
Wed, Jun 6, 2012 : 2:24 a.m.
I hate to say it I had a few giggles over this one. Blood of a few ducks? What is this world coming to?
Robin1979
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 4:04 a.m.
Ever had a biology class? Probably not... Humans are no "better" than any other living organism on this planet. Maybe the ducklings will cry when you die but then again, probably not.
Middle America
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 2:52 a.m.
Dennis will not be happy until the blood of all ducklings has been spilled.
Kitty O'Brien
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 2:03 a.m.
Mallards usually have at least 8 babies in their clutch. A few likely did die. Happy now?