Ducklings rescued from California storm drain

A California animal control officer climbed into a storm drain to rescue four ducklings that fell through an opening and into a storm drain.

Riverside County Animal Services said Animal Control Officers Mary Salazar and Sean Fazio were summoned to Grove Community Drive in Riverside when residents reported ducklings trapped in a storm drain.

The officers learned the ducklings had been walking with their mother when one of them fell into the drain. The mother duck started pacing back and forth next to the opening, leading three more of her followers to fall in.

The mother duck ended up taking the rest of her ducklings to continue their walk.

"Fazio was able to enter the storm drain and retrieve the ducklings, passing them up one-by-one to neighborhood children for safe keeping," animal services said in an Instagram post.

"Once all the ducklings were rescued from the storm drain, residents directed the officers to where the mother duck had gone and soon after the little duck family was happily reunited," the post said.