A group of baby ducks that had been trapped underground in a remote part of Merseyside were saved after their mother's cries caught the attention of men working nearby.
Late last week workers on a railway line near Melling, Sefton began to hear the distressed cries of a mother duck on the other side of a fenced-off compound. Realising something was wrong they called the RSPCA, who sent Kathryn Kellegher, an animal rescue officer to the scene.
Kathryn then had to enlist the help of engineers from Cadent, the gas company who own the compound and manage the area's gas network, to access the site. They soon found that a family of six ducklings had become trapped underground after falling through a grate.
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Kathryn, with Cadent engineers Darren Bohanna and George Gresty, then began their rescue mission to save the poor animals while their mum watched, panicked. It was a success, and the duck family were shortly released into a pond nearby, where they "swam off happily".
Kathryn said: "A railway worker saw six ducklings were in trouble under a gas grid behind a metal fenced area and reported the matter to us. I could not get into the fenced off area so called Cadent, who sent two workers out to help me.
"They were amazing – one lifted the grate while the other helped me using a net to round up the ducklings. All the while, their worried mum looked on.
"During the rescue she was calling to them and they were calling back. I placed the ducklings in a box and walked to a nearby pond with mum following behind. I then released them, and they swam off happily together - it was lovely to see."
Darren Bohanna, one of the engineers who helped to rescue the family, said: "“It was certainly a very different emergency call-out for us, not what we’re used to doing or something I’ve ever had to do before. Kathryn, the RSPCA officer, had some fishing nets and we had to coax the ducklings into them.
“There was no way out otherwise and it was great to be able to reunite them with their mother.”
Anyone who has concerns for the welfare of an animal is advised to call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.
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