MUKILTEO — It was a dramatic scene Thursday night along Mukilteo Speedway.
A mother was separated from her 11 babies.
One moment, she was walking along in a parking lot, with the kids following behind.
The next, they were gone.
It’s every parent’s worst nightmare.
They had apparently taken a tumble through a stormwater grate. The mother was big enough to cross, but the babies slipped through. She didn’t realize her mistake until it was too late. The mother wasn’t strong enough to pull the grate out herself. She didn’t have a phone — no way to call out for help.
Luckily, a Good Samaritan noticed the mother in distress and called 911.
Police officers and fire crews responded to the scene shortly before 8:30 p.m.
The lights of the emergency vehicles reflected off the mother’s feathers as she looked on intently. The crews opened the grate and picked up the babies one by one — each one a little damp, but alive.
Soon, Mama Duck and her 11 ducklings were reunited, and they waddled off into the woods.
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
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