It took some whistling, a stretcher and a shovel to rescue seven ducklings in Pembroke Pines.
The young ducks were following their mother when they fell through a storm sewer grate in the Century Village condominium complex.
A resident called Century Village security personnel, who called the city's Fire Department. A three-member crew from Station 89 came to the rescue.
"We were not laughing," said Capt. Jorge Hernandez, who responded to the call recently. "We rescue anybody and anything. We heard there were ducks stuck in a drain and we said, `Let's go and get them out to safety.'''
"Every call is different and challenging in its own way," he said.
When the rescuers arrived, they removed the storm sewer grate and found seven baby ducks swimming 4 feet below. Three other ducklings did not fall in and were safe with their mother.
"The mother duck was freaking out and running around looking for her babies," Driver/Engineer Brad Masters said.
The rescuers reached down and quickly pulled out five of the ducklings.
"As we brought them out she would go up to them and bring them back to the group," Hernandez said. "You almost got the feeling that she was counting them, and she remained in the area."
But during the rescue, two ducklings swam through openings into the underground pipes. It became a challenge to figure out how to coax them out.
Firefighter/emergency medical technician Jim Juliano had an idea. He listened to the duckling sounds and decided to mimic them.
One duckling swam toward the duck sounds made by Juliano. When it emerged from the pipe, Hernandez blocked the pipe opening.
"We used the backboard to block it, in conjunction with the duck call and patience to get him out successfully," Hernandez said.
But it was a real job getting the final duckling out of the storm drain.
"The last one was stubborn and didn't want to come out," said Juliano, who added that it took 15 minutes to rescue the last baby duck. "We stuck the backboard down to cover the first hole and then took a shovel to cover the other one."
Fire Marshal Dave Raines said that the department receives about six calls a year to rescue animals. Service calls of this type are abandoned if an emergency involving people develops, he said.
Bill and Glenda Thomas, of Ponca City, Okla., were vacationing at their Century Village condo when they heard the commotion involving the ducks.
They watched the firefighters save the duck family and were so impressed with their work that they snapped some photos to document the rescue.
"They would have never gotten out if the Fire Department didn't take the time to come by and do that," Glenda Thomas said. "They would have died down there."
Thomas couldn't believe how well Juliano's mimicking of a duck worked.
"He sounded more like a duck than the duck did," she said. "When all the babies were out, she took off with the little ducks and headed off in the other direction."
"The day was resolved with a happy family," Thomas said.
