‘We gotcha mama’: Owen Sound firefighters rescue ducklings trapped in storm sewer

Firefighters rescue ducklings trapped in a storm sewer in Owen Sound, Ont. on May 19, 2026. (Source: City of Owen Sound/Facebook)

A mother duck and her babies were reunited after the babies became stuck in a storm sewer last weekend in Grey County.

Posted to Facebook on May 19, the video shows approximately 10 ducklings trapped inside a storm sewer in the City of Owen Sound.

A team of firefighters attend the scene for the rescue, as a firefighter holds a wooden board in the sewer to keep the ducklings contained to one corner.

Firefighters lie down on pavement and reach into the sewer and to pull out the ducklings one by one as the mother duck stands nearby, watching the rescue, and quacking loudly.

During the video, one of the firefighters notices the mother duck and tells her, “We’re helping ya mama, hold on.”

“We gotcha mama,” says another firefighter.

The firefighters retrieve the first duckling in an orange bucket and decide where the safest place is to put the babies. They eventually decide to drop them off where they are, as they figure they will go straight to their mother.

One by one the ducklings are retrieved by the firefighters, and as predicted, they run straight towards the mother duck.

All ducklings were retrieved and safely reunited with their mother.

It took a total of 20 minutes for the firefighters to rescue all ducklings.

The video has gone viral, with thousands of reactions and tens of thousands of views on Facebook.