Mount Prospect police officer Taylor Heiser uses a makeshift scoop to reach seven ducklings that were trapped in a sewer Thursday afternoon. Courtesy of Mount Prospect police

Seven ducklings swim with their mother in a pond after their rescue Thursday from a Mount Prospect sewer. Courtesy of Mount Prospect police

Seven ducklings escaped a harrowing adventure in the sewer and were reunited with their mother Thursday afternoon with the help of passerby who heard their cries and called the Mount Prospect Police Department.

People realized ducklings were in the sewer on the 1300 block of South Hunt Club Drive and reported it to police at 4:52 p.m., according to Public Information Officer Greg Sill.

Officer Taylor Heiser arrived to find a concerned passerby amassing items to create a tool to reach the ducklings through the sewer grate, Sill said. Together, the group assembled a makeshift scoop with a broomstick and a stainless steel kitchen colander using zip ties from Heiser's squad car.

They removed the sewer grate, and Heiser used the scooper to lift the ducklings from the sewers and give them to the group to place in a bucket.

In just 10 minutes, all seven ducklings were safely back in a nearby pond with their mother, Sill said.