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Amazing rescue by a mother duck who went the extra mile

By Paul Sims
Last updated at 12:37 AM on 17th June 2008

Trapped in a dark sewer, the six little mallard ducklings found themselves cut off and facing an uncertain future.

Their only hope of seeing daylight again lay with their mother  -  who they had last seen more than a mile away as they were sucked into a drain.

Rescue seemed impossible. Yet somehow the mother duck had managed to follow her offspring for more than a mile, apparently listening to their cheeps of distress at manhole covers as they were swept along below ground.

Her incredible journey took her across a busy roundabout, countless roads, a metro rail line, a housing estate, two school playing fields and hospital grounds.

Reunited: The six ducklings with their mother

The trail finally ended when she waddled on to Barrasford Close in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, where her chicks suddenly stopped.

And it was there, standing over another man-hole cover, that the mother remained for the next four hours until local residents heard chirping coming from down below.

They in turn launched a rescue operation, removing the manhole cover and using a child's fishing net to scoop all six from the sewer one by one and reuniting them with their mother in a paddling pool.

Peter Elliott, 59, said he first noticed the mother duck at 6am as he left his home on Sunday for a run. 'I was so surprised to find she hadn't moved when I got back,' he said yesterday. 'I went over wondering if she was injured but there were no visible signs of a problem.

Peter Elliott, 59, (left) and friend Jim Calder, 62, wrenched off part of a manhole cover to rescue the ducklings

'I went in and had breakfast and looked out again. I saw she was waddling away from a drain cover but then immediately going back and sitting down on it.

'It seemed odd, I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

'It was only when his daughter, Vicki Jefferson, 30, took her two-year-old son, James, out to see the mother duck that they first heard the ducklings in the sewer below.

The Big Pond in Brunswick where the ducks were released

'Vicki said she thought she could hear cheeping sounds,' said Mr Elliott. 'It was fairly clear that her chicks were trapped underground.'

Mr Elliott, his son-in-law Rob Jefferson, 30, and neighbour, Jim Calder, 62, returned armed with spades, a crow bar and spanners.

'We managed to haul this heavy manhole cover up and saw six little ducklings scrabbling around in the drain,' said Mr Elliott. 'We got a little fishing net from the house and lifted each duckling out in turn.

The sewer access point is close to the River Ouseburn, near the Three Mile Inn on the Great North Road, Gosforth - two miles away from where the ducklings were finally rescued

'I called the RSPCA and they said to let them wander off. But in such a built up area we didn't feel happy doing that. So we drove them to a lake near Newcastle airport and watched them swim happily away. It was a lovely moment.'

Northumbria Water said the nearest sewer access point to Barrasford-Close was more than a mile away, close to the River Ouseburn. 'We believe the ducklings entered the surface sewer system there,' said a spokesman.

Owen Joiner, from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, said: 'I can only think that she followed the cries of her young from manhole cover to manhole cover. Had she not done so, the ducklings will almost certainly have perished.'

Epic ordeal: The storm drain where it is believed the ducklings entered the sewer, and right, the mother duck's incredible  journey

母鴨救小鴨   長途跋涉感動天
2008-06-18 中國時報 【閻紀宇／綜合報導】
    　一群孩子被困在暗不見天日的下水道，不知道怎麼才能逃脫，死亡的魔掌步步進逼，求救聲漸漸微弱。突然間，孩子聽見上方的人孔蓋外面有呱呱聲傳來，是媽媽的聲音耶！這是一隻英國綠頭鴨（mallard）與牠6個寶寶的真實故事。
    　鴨媽媽為了搭救困在下水道的孩子，長途跋涉超過3公里，苦苦守候至少4個小時，終於締造了一場母子大團圓的奇蹟。
    　6小鴨掉進下水道沖走
    　這個兼具母愛與勇氣的故事，15日發生在英格蘭東北部的紐塞。當地人士研判，鴨寶寶是在「三哩客棧」（Three Mile Inn）附近一個下水道開口，被大水席捲進去，一路隨波逐流。鴨媽媽雖然搶救不及，但是不屈不撓，一路緊緊跟隨著寶寶從人孔傳出的微弱呼救聲，不放棄任何一絲救回孩子的希望。
    　根據當地的下水道管線圖，這位鴨媽媽顯然平安越過了許多條馬路、繞過一處交通繁忙的圓環、穿越一條電車軌道，然後還經過民宅、學校與醫院，最後來到哥斯福斯區的一條死巷，這裡距離三哩客棧約3.2公里。鴨寶寶到了這裡不再漂流，但卻困在一具人孔蓋下方；鴨媽媽則一直在附近守候，等待救星出現。
    　鴨媽媽守候一晚等救星
    　早起的鳥兒有蟲吃，「早起的人兒救了鳥。」59歲男子彼得．艾略特習慣在早晨慢跑，15日早上6點鐘他出門時，看到一隻綠頭鴨在馬路上的人孔蓋徘徊，呱呱呼喚。等他晨跑回來，綠頭鴨還在那裡。艾略特懷疑這隻鴨子受了傷，但是從外表又看不出跡象。
    　艾略特用完早餐再出來查看，鴨子果然不曾離開。他的女兒維琪與2歲的孫子詹姆士決定一探究竟，走到人孔蓋旁邊，這才聽到小鴨在裡頭的啁啾聲，真相終於大白。艾略特立刻號召一家老小和厝邊隔壁，組成搶救小鴨大隊。
    　他們帶齊鐵撬、鏟子、扳手、漁網等工具，好不容易才將沉重的人孔蓋撬開，下面果然有6隻嗷嗷待救的鴨寶寶，於是用漁網將牠們一隻一隻打撈上岸，和媽媽團聚。這時已是上午10點。
    　救鴨救到底載到湖泊放生
    　艾略特打電話給英國防止虐待動物協會（RSPCA），請教後續處理方式，服務人員建議就地放生。然而當地是住宅區，艾略特覺得風險太大，救鴨要救到底，於是開車載牠們到紐塞機場旁邊一座湖泊，讓鴨媽媽領著6隻鴨寶寶游入湖中，這才功德圓滿，如釋重負。