So a couple weeks ago I'm driving down Harlem and traffic comes to a standstill. I figure it is an accident so I take a detour to get around it. Today I go on tribune website and come across this story. I cant believe no one ran these things over. The balls on this duck to walk across a major intersection with its ducklings.
Palos Heights firefighters rescue ducklings who fell through a sewer grate
By Wendy E. Normandy, Special to the Tribune
July 12, 2013
Three Palos Heights firefighters this week rescued a mother duck and her ducklings who snarled traffic while trying to cross Harlem Avenue before eight of the brood fell through a grated sewer cover as rush hour commuters watched in horror.
The firefighters were called to the scene Thursday evening after bystanders saw the duck and her 10 ducklings step off the curb to cross Harlem near Illinois Highway 83, causing drivers to slam their brakes to allow the flock to pass, said Bryan Mueller, a firefighter with the Palos Heights Fire Protection District.
Their plight worsened as the ducklings, walking single file behind their mother, began to disappear, one-by-one falling through a sewer cover on Harlem. By the time the mother realized some of her brood was missing, eight of them had fallen about six feet into a storm water runoff pipe underneath the grate, Mueller said.
While the bystanders attempted to herd the remaining two ducklings and their mother out of the street and back to the sidewalk, a bystander called the police for help. Two squad cars arrived and attempted to control the southbound traffic, which was beginning to snarl, but neither officer knew how to get the ducklings out of the rain sewer.
The Palos Heights Fire Protection District was called and Mueller said that as they boarded the engine, the chief handed them a large fishing net explaining that they would probably need it for the rescue. "The net was actually purchased just for this type of rescue," Mueller said.
Mueller said he pried open the large sewer cover and spotted the ducklings swimming in circles in the water left from last week's storms. The ducklings, however, were not close enough to bring up by hand.
"This is where the net came in," Mueller said. "We just started scooping them out."
Meanwhile, drivers in the southbound lanes who were unable to move began to become irate, said one witness who works at the Palos Animal Hospital at the corner of Route 83 and Harlem. At one point, the mother duck began to frantically swoop down at the firefighters because she thought they were trying to harm her ducklings, Mueller said.
Two veterinary technicians from Palos Animal Hospital who came out to watch the rescue brought a large plastic kennel to aid the firefighters, Mueller said.
After about 45 minutes, the eight baby ducklings were safely placed into the crate and carried across Harlem where the firefighters found a secluded spot to let them out. Within minutes they were reunited with their mother who had followed them.
Firefighters Matt Gruca and Bryan Mueller and Lt. Adam Casper remained for about an hour to make sure the brood did not try to return to Harlem Avenue.
