Family of ducklings rescued from storm drain

Four ducklings that fell through a sewer grate were retrieved by an animal control officer and reunited with their mother, the Department of Animal Services reported Thursday.

County animal control officers received a call at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday from a security guard at the Oasis Country Club in Palm Desert. Security had received multiple complaints about a group of ducklings that had fallen through a storm drain at the corner of Adalin Way and Joetta Place.

The four ducklings were from a family of ducks that lived at a nearby lake, which included a mother duck and eight other ducklings.

Animal Control officer James E. Huffman climbed about 7 feet down the storm drain to collect the ducks. Of the family reunion that followed, Huffman said: “The mother duck and the other ducklings were in the middle of the lake when I sat the missing four down and, as soon as they heard their mom quack, they jumped in the water and swam as fast as they could to meet up with mom and their brothers and sisters.”