Oh, sure, they look like a big happy family now, but how they got there is a duck tale worth retelling.

It's all recounted here by the sister of the man behind the duck rescue -- a loan officer named  Joel Armstrong who works at the Sterling Bank in downtown Spokane.

Looking down from his second story window one day in May, he watched as a duck picked the cement planter outside his window -- 10 feet above ground -- to build her nest. She laid her eggs, then stayed by their side until, weeks later, the ducklings hatched.

The very next day, Armstrong said, their mother -- as he's since learned mama ducks will do -- was urging them to leave the nest. He looked out his window and saw the mother duck on the sidewalk, quacking up to her babies to take the leap from the nest.

The first one jumped, crashing to the cement below, then laid there dazed.

Not wanting to see that nine more times, Joel dashed out of his office and ran down the stairs to the sidewalk. As the second one took the plunge, Joel jumped forward and caught it with his hands before it hit the cement and set it on the ground next to the mother.

One by one, the babies continued to jump and, as a crowd formed to watch, Joel hid under the awning, reaching out in time to catch them all.  

Once all the ducklings had safely landed, they still had two blocks of traffic to get across to get to the Spokane River. Other workers joining the effort, bringing down an empty copy paper box, They gathered the babies, popped them in the box and began the trek. (One employee captured most of the rescue on camera; click the link above to see more.)

On the way to the river, Joel held the box low enough for the mom to see her brood, and she waddled behind him, crossing streets and hopping up curbs. Once at the river, she jumped in the water and quacked loudly. The workers helped the babies out of the box, and they hopped in the river and paddled to their mother's side.

We at Mutts salute Joel (a 42-year-old cat owner) for graciously (and without requiring collateral) lending a hand -- two, actually -- to urban wildflife, and we thank his sister as well, for telling the story. 

Joel told us he has been back to the river a couple times since, and spotted two mama ducks with families, but he's not certain they were the same ones he rescued. "We're just assuming they're all healthy, he said. "It was fun helping them out."

(Photo by Morgan McGee)