It started as a simple matter of curiosity.

“Driving home, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye,” explained Leanne Lorimer. “When I investigated, it was a mother duck with her babies in tow.”

She thought it odd, as it was in the middle of a Walnut Grove residential area, with no ponds close by.

She followed the ducks for a bit, then quickly went home to get her son Kevin.

When she returned, the ducks had stayed put. Lorimer and her son put down some water and food for the birds.

Meanwhile, first one neighbour and then others came out to see what was happening.

The first neighbour wondered aloud if mom was staying put by the storm drain because one of her chicks had dropped in.

He and Kevin pulled off the grate, and sure enough, there were four down-covered duckling down there.

The neighbour caught one, and Kevin managed to rescue the other three.

“They were so panicked!” said Lorimer, “They ran for mom like a bat out of hell.”

Mom and babies were reunited (11 ducklings all told), and marched off to a destination unknown.

All of the neighbours gathered for the rescue effort expressed hopes that the whole family got there safely.