Duckling dilemma averted at Pelican Square
One by one, seven ducklings slipped through the grate of a parking lot storm drain while waddling after their mother in the Pelican Square shopping center Aug. 13.
Pulling into Petco that day, Regina Pepper of Milton said she saw a woman, a duck and a duckling circling the drain, looking down. Pepper, who said she has ducks at home, approached the woman to see what was going on. That’s when she saw the ducklings gathered at the bottom of the drain.
“She watched the babies drop in,” Pepper said.
Before long, shopping center employees and patrons clustered around the site, discussing what to do, Pepper said. A Petco manager attempted to build a net to retrieve the ducklings, she said, and others called around to see who might rescue them.
“I called Envirotech because I know they do work with ponds,” she said. “They showed up, didn’t wait and climbed right in to get the ducks. They were just awesome.”
Within two hours of their escapade, all the ducklings had been pulled from the drain and reunited with their mother.
Envirotech Environmental Consulting Inc. President Todd Fritchman said the community-based environmental management services firm does provide animal rescue services and, in this case, ripped up the bill.
“There was no charge for that,” he said. “They definitely would’ve died down there. There was no escape; it’s an underground chamber. It takes a lot to make a life, and we want to preserve it.”
Fritchman said his employees are certified through Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and Sussex Conservation District to follow state requirements on sediment and erosion control, so they’re experts in the management and maintenance of storm drains.
“They have the tools and equipment, the know-how and skill set to operate,” Fritchman said.
However, he said, there’s typically not a lot of gratification for those working in the environmental services realm.
“But in this case, they got to save lives,” Fritchman said. “Ducklings – how cute can you get?”
Pepper said the group of rescuers placed the duck family at the pond adjacent to the nearby American Classic Golf Club. She said she posted photos of the rescue on Facebook because she sees so much anger on local social media pages and wanted to spread some cheer.
“It was a good day,” Pepper said. “It may not be a big deal to a lot of people, but it was a really big deal to all the people who were there. It made people happy, and they were able to see that people are still doing nice things.”
