When Scarborough police officers were dispatched to a reported accident on Wednesday, they probably weren’t expecting the rescue to involve waterfowl.

In a video and photos on the department’s Facebook page, officers responded to a motor vehicle crash involving a car and pedestrian on Route 1, but when they arrived, they found the pedestrian lying in the gutter peering down a storm drain.

Turns out the pedestrian had come upon a mother duck and her ducklings walking along the road. Mommy duck hopped up on the curb, and three others followed suit, but eight of her ducklings fell into the drain. Officers could hear the little ones chirping to get out, while Mom stood nearby, quacking for help.

Department of Public Works employee Dan Desimio arrived in response to a call for help from police officers, and with the help of a net, rescued the ducklings, who were reunited with Mom.

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