Banker Saves Ducklings From Free-Fall–Again

The “duck man” is at it again. Last year, around this time, a news story about Washington banker Joel Armstrong, who caught ducklings as they leapt off an overhang, made the rounds on the Internet. This year, mama duck—dubbed “Amelia Duckheart” by bank staff—chose the same not-so-great place to hatch her brood, and Joel leapt into action again.

For a little over a month, Joel had been watching the nest, which is located on an overhang outside his office window.

Over the weekend, this year’s brood hatched and found themselves in the same ugly situation as last year’s—they were faced with having to jump from the dangerously high ledge down to the ground where their mother sat waiting.

Being an old hand at this, Joel was able to catch each duckling in mid-leap. He then escorted Amelia and her babies to the nearby Spokane River as a crowd of admiring bystanders cheered them on.

Talk about lucky ducks!

Written by Jennifer Cerlitsky