City worker leads rescue of ducklings in storm drain

SYRACUSE, Calif., June 6 (UPI) -- A California city worker said he and about a half dozen other people worked to rescue five ducklings from a storm drain.

Gary Clifford, with the Syracuse Department of Transportation, said he spotted a mother duck crossing Warren Street with 12 ducklings while he was working in the area, so he decided to stop traffic for the family, Syracuse.com reported Thursday.

However, he said the ducks got into trouble once they crossed to Herald Place.

"They walked right across the storm drain and I could see the little ones disappearing one at a time," he said.

Bystander Danielle Tongue was able to reach between the metal bars on the storm drain and pull out one of the ducklings, leaving four trapped.

Clifford called for a city crew and they were able to remove the cover from the storm drain and bring the ducklings back to their mother.

The city worker said he and the other rescuers corralled the family of ducks into a box and took them to a nearby creek.

"As soon as I opened up the box, they all jumped in the water and swam away," he said.