MANKATO — In the autumn in Minnesota, the combination of ducks and guys with guns usually ends badly for the fowl.
But both sides came out feeling warm and fuzzy on a recent early summer day in North Mankato. A mother duck, who had lost half her brood when the ducklings fell through a storm sewer grate, saw them rescued. And North Mankato cops bagged their limit in adorable photographs and public goodwill.
These five mallard ducklings were reunited with their mother and six siblings after being rescued from a North Mankato storm sewer.
Photo courtesy of the North Mankato Police Department
Less than three days after putting photos of the call to service on the department’s Facebook page, the post had received more than 1,200 Likes and 62 comments. Here’s a sample, one for each duckling rescued from the storm sewer:
“Awww. So cute!!!”
“No customer is too small to serve! Thanks NMPD!”
“God bless you all over and over again.”
“Now that’s what I call protecting and serving!”
“I was the one that called the police to rescue 5 baby ducklings that had fallen in the drain!!!! THANK YOU soooooo much for rescuing them! You guys were awesome and a mama duck got all her babies back (she had eleven in total)! From the small things like rescuing baby ducks to fighting crime you are all heroes!!”
An unidentified North Mankato police officer works his way down to the quintet of baby ducks that had fallen through a storm sewer grate.
Photo courtesy of the North Mankato Police Department
The Facebook post didn’t name the officers or other city employees who served on the quack team of first responders, but Phil Tostenson undoubtedly would have been on the scene if called. While Tostenson’s normal duties involve managing the Caswell Park sports complex, he’s also become the informal municipal duckling whisperer. And it’s actually a specialty that’s needed more often than one might suspect.
“Every year I help do it,” Tostenson told The Free Press in the spring of 2022, the last time the newspaper covered a North Mankato duckling rescue. “A few years ago, someone in lower North Mankato called me and I and another city employee rescued some wood duck babies out of a deep storm drain. So anytime this happens, they call me.”
As for why it keeps occurring, it’s just a duck thing — caused by the little ones’ instinct to walk in a line behind their mother.
“A lot of time the mom hops up on the curb over the drain grate and the babies can’t jump up and just follow each other into the drain,” Tostenson said.