Eleven ducklings in Rowlett are no doubt grateful for an 8-year-old boy who heard their chirps for help and swung into action.
The baby ducks were trapped in a storm drain in Waterview Pond when Ashley Gass and her son Alex walked by.
"The momma duck was swimming circles around here, pacing back and forth,” Ashley Gass said.
Alex Gass knew he had to investigate.
"I'm an animal lover lover,” he said. “I love animals."
So he decided to look closer.
"Mom was about here,” he said as he laid down on top of the drain. “We were both on our knees, looking down like this. We couldn't see much."
But they could still hear the desperate cries for help.
"They were trapped all the way down there,” Ashley Gass said, pointing to the drain.
So they called Rowlett firefighters.
One got inside the storm drain.
"He was just handing the baby ducks out one by one,” Ashley Gass said.
He rescued 11 ducklings in all.
"And they swam straight to the mom,” she said.
"She was so happy to see them again,” the boy added. “I'm surprised she didn't start crying."
The duck family was reunited.
"I felt good. I felt really good, to join them back together,” Alex Gass said.
The third-grader said he hopes the baby ducks learned their lesson about not playing close to the storm drain.
