By Karen Scarry

There’s nothing better than waking up to the warmth of sunshine, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and a day filled with nothing urgent to complete.

So, immediately after my boys boarded the school bus, I grabbed my puppy and went for a walk. We heard a very loud and annoyed-sounding duck echoing from the neighborhood cul-de-sac.

When we neared this cul-de-sac, we came face to face with a mother duck. She looked lost or panicked, pacing back and forth. Neighbors told me that she had been there for a few hours and wouldn’t leave. As my puppy and I neared a drainage pipe we could hear a constant chattering. When I looked down into it I could see maybe one or two baby ducklings trapped inside.

The annoyed, out-of-place duck suddenly made sense. A walk with mom had gone terribly wrong.

I was joined outside by fellow neighbors, Jerry Stam and his wife. Jerry decided to call the city for help. We figured it was worth a shot since the pipe cover was bolted down and we couldn’t even begin to figure out how to open it.

Another set of neighbors, Donald and Erin Avery, came out to assist as well.

Much faster than any of us expected, two city trucks with four men pulled into the cul-de-sac. Desmond Weaver, Dan Gravelle, Brian Wargo and Chris Fontana were all ready to help.

When the drainage pipe was opened, we all realized that there was an entire family of ducklings trapped under there — at least 10, maybe more.

The men told us stories of rescuing babies at the lake from mean crows, but this was a first for them to rescue them from a drainage pipe on a neighborhood street.

Shortly after this discovery, mom and dad duck were seen nervously keeping watch from a distance.

Weaver carefully assisted Gravelle into the opening.

Immediately Gravelle was able to snatch up five baby ducklings, one at a time. Erin and I were there and quickly took the babies and tried to run them to their mom.

Baby No. 5 escaped under a car but we managed to get that one back too. Mom duck was scared and ran aimlessly away. We decided that getting them all contained in a box first was maybe the best solution.

Gravelle said they looked to be maybe a day old, if that. This was probably their first family outing.

The remaining cluster of ducklings was scared, freezing and hiding in pipes and difficult to reach. But, we could all hear their loud cries for help.

Jerry went back into his garage and grabbed a fishing net, pole and duct tape. With the assistance of Weaver, they made an extended net contraption to try and rescue more ducklings. They managed to grab three more with the net. Several more were still hiding in the pipes.

One of the city men then asked if we had tennis balls handy. They used a tennis ball to attempt to roll from the end of one pipe to another. This didn’t work.

Then another city employee said, “Maybe we can flush them out.”

Jerry went back to his house and grabbed his hose, which lucky for us was able to reach to the drainage site.

One man sprayed one end of the pipe while the other stood by with a box ready to catch any swimming babies.

“Here they all come,” he yelled.

We rushed to help him out. The remaining four baby ducklings successfully came pouring out of the pipes and safely into the hands of the city workers.

Victory at last. Twelve adorable, but scared, baby ducklings were safe.

Now, for dilemma No. 2. How do we safely get these babies back to their mom and dad? What if they decide to desert them? We could see crows and cats nearby just waiting for the right time to snag them. We couldn’t just let me go without backup.

The men made their attempt to locate the mom to deliver the babies but they couldn’t get close enough.

Gravelle gave us his cell number and told us to call him in an hour if mom doesn’t come back for them. He would safely drop them off at a lake in hopes that another family of ducks would adopt them.

There I was, with a box of 12 scared baby ducklings. Being a mom myself, I felt the maternal instinct kicking me in the stomach and telling me to not lose sight of these babies until they were safe.

Within a few minutes after the city trucks pulled away and the crowd dissipated, I came  face to face with mother duck once again. She flew in front of me, eyeing the box I was holding. She let out a very loud honk. Her babies started to chatter back in excitement. I carefully laid the box on its side and 12 baby ducklings came spilling out to be reunited with their mom.

What a sight as Jerry, Erin and I got to witness this happy homecoming.

So, there was the bulk of my morning. Unplanned and maybe considered a “waste of time” to others.

With the world in such disarray right now and never a happy news story to report, this to me was the perfect start to a gorgeous sunny day.

In addition to my sunshine and non-urgent schedule, I decided to skip the java and have a cup of humanity instead.

A special thank you to the city for their awesome rescue and their genuine care and concern for Maple Valley’s beautiful wildlife.