Jaws of life used to save these feathered babies in Beaufort County

For two days a flock of ducklings swam in circles in a storm drain in the Shadow Moss subdivision in Port Royal, said officials with Beaufort County Animal Services.

The ducklings mom sat nearby watching over her babies but unable to help.

A nearby neighbor worried that the ducklings wouldn't be able to survive a rush of rainwater through the drain and that was likely to happen as a storm approached Beaufort County Tuesday, Tallulah Trice, animal services director said.

"We were trying to get to them quick," Trice said. "They wouldn't have survived when the rain came in."

Animal Services staff tried to pull on the drain cover but it was rusted and wouldn't budge, Trice said. That’s when a call to the Beaufort and Port Royal Fire Department was made.

Chief Reese Bertholf said firefighters used the jaws of life to grip the drain cover and remove it.

"They didn't cut into it," Bertholf said.

The ducks were then scooped up with a net, Trice said. She said they were returned to their mother already at the scene.

Bertholf said it is not uncommon for the department to help with animals between emergency calls.

"if we get a request, we try to go out and look and see what we can do," Bertholf said. "Never hesitate to ask us for help."

This story was originally published June 13, 2018 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Jaws of life used to save these feathered babies in Beaufort County."