TOMS RIVER – Three small ducklings were saved after a good Samaritan discovered the helpless animals stuck in a storm drain in the Township.
On May 25, a crowd formed outside of Town Hall finding ducklings trapped inside the drain.
A resident ran inside Town Hall for help. Toms River Special Police Officer II Taylor Boschetti was on duty for security and provided his assistance for the trapped ducklings.
It appeared that the mother duck had retreated to Water Street to attend to the rest of her brood and the three ducklings were left behind.
Boschetti alerted Toms River Animal Control and Senior Animal Control Officer Dave Matthews along with Rich Barbosa, manager of the Toms River Animal Shelter arrived on scene to assist.
Thankfully, Matthews was able to net the three ducklings in about 10 minutes. However, reuniting them with their family was an even bigger challenge.
Boschetti, Matthews and Barbosa were able to locate the mother duck and nine additional chicks in the brush behind the Horner House at the southeast corner of Water Street and Horner.
They gathering all the chicks into a crate but the mother resisted capture. After determining that the mother would not be captured nor leave her brood, Matthews removed the chicks from the crate into a net and started walking towards Huddy Park and the Toms River.
The mother duck soon followed, with Boschetti stopping traffic on Water Street for safe crossing.
The family was happily united in Huddy Park. The flock followed their mother towards the river until she jumped into the river. Matthews and Barbosa helped the chicks into the river and together they swam away as a family.
Mayor Mo Hill commends Matthews, Barbosa and Boschetti for a job well done. “Those are lucky ducks,” Hill said.
