Sometime after sunset on Tuesday, a mother duck took her 11 ducklings for a walk away from Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden. Along the way, one of the ducklings was grabbed by a cat and taken away from the group.
A passerby saw this happen, and was concerned about the remaining ducks’ safety. He followed them to near the corner of Victoria and Santa Barbara streets.
There he was joined by another Good Samaritan, who was worried about the ducks attempting to cross busy Santa Barbara Street in the dark.
She and others called the Santa Barbara Police Department and asked for help.
Initially, one officer was dispatched to assist. He called Animal Control, hoping to get their help, but they weren’t available.
At the same time, a bystander walked over to Presidio Market for a cardboard box. The market helpfully provided a family sized duck box.
Because Animal Control wasn’t available, the police officer on scene asked to have another officer dispatched for assistance.
During this time, the mother duck had corralled her ten remaining ducklings and had them all safely protected under her body.
Once the second police officer arrived, the plan was hatched to capture the duck family and relocate them to a safer place.
At this point, the second Good Samaritan and the two police officers set out to capture the birds.
The scene was a bit chaotic, but the Good Samaritan and one of the police officers were able to catch momma duck by putting a towel over her head, which calmed her down completely.
The baby ducklings were noisily corralled into the box by the other police officer.
Once all the whole family was safe, the Good Samaritans went on their way.
The officers packed the ducks into a patrol vehicle and drove up the street to Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden.
There, they released the momma duck and her babies near the pond. Momma immediately took off and landed in the water, and then started to call for her brood.
As soon as the babies heard her call, they jumped into the pond and joined her.
Hopefully, they had a safe night.