If you’re looking a sign that complete strangers can still come together in a time of widespread division, look no further than the suspenseful, hilarious and ultimately successful story of San Diegans working together online to rescue a pair of ducks this week.

“I laughed, I cried, I ate crispy buffalo chicken tenderloins somewhere in the middle of it all,” Reddit user ph49 said of watching the story unfold on the internet.

A woman who found two large, white, out of place-looking ducks wandering through Balboa Park on Sunday took to Facebook and the neighborhood social media site Nextdoor for advice on what to do about them and was inundated with comments and offers of help. The conversation quickly spread to Reddit and beyond, and soon enough people all over San Diego County were invested in this wild quest.

“I really seriously felt like I was a command center,” Banker’s Hill resident and rescue organizer Marcie Colleen said in an interview. She said that her “heart broke” when a Facebook friend suggested the ducks may have been abandoned in the park. The internet couldn’t get enough of the duck tale.

“Duckwatch 2018!” one Reddit user enthused on a photo someone had posted of the ducks.

“Save the ducks!” another posted.

“Tell the ducks I said, ‘hello,’” one told a person who had announced a plan to visit them.

We’re happy to report that Duckwatch 2018 has a happy ending.

The ducks are now safe in a home in La Mesa where Ron Bueno, the man who ultimately rescued them from Balboa Park, feeds and takes care of them while waiting to find them a “forever home.”

“It’s just funny,” Bueno said of the ducks who mostly hang out quietly in a bin and even watch television with him. “I giggle to myself that I have two ducks.”

Rescued Pekin ducks from Balboa Park. This is the day after I got them, they're relaxed, very friendly and eating well. There's chopped greens and some floating food in the wat ...

There was no certainty at the outset that this story would end well. People across the county watched in suspense for updates amid fears of fox or coyote attacks or worse… attacks by the children of tourists.

Colleen and others sought help through social media and made pleas to caretakers at the San Diego Zoo and other local animal facilities over the next few days as random people began to make trips to the park to check on the ducks and post photos to ensure everyone invested in their well-being knew they were alive.

“It was weird because of all the political stuff in the world and no one ends up doing anything, and the two ducks brought out everyone and their cousin,” Bankers Hill resident Cory Brin said in an interview.

Brin is the person who first shared the ducks’ story on Reddit.

North Park resident Mark Bell also kept eyes on the ducks. In an interview, he said he eventually decided to go visit them on Tuesday and was checking online “maybe every 15 to 20 minutes just to make sure there weren’t any posts that said they were gone.”

He took a photo to show San Diego Reddit users the ducks were still just chilling.

The ducks seen near the lily pond in Balboa Park on Tuesday. Mark Bell

On Reddit, people living in rural areas or on large properties offered to take the ducks to more open spaces with other birds, but everyone struggled with how best to safely remove them. When local rescue groups took no action, two Reddit users announced separately they were headed there on Tuesday with crates to get them.

They were Bueno and Christian Villanueva, now heroes on the internet. Villanueva, whose mother has a ranch in Boulevard, got there first and tried to decide how to get them into a dog crate. Then Bueno, who has experience with chickens, showed up and corralled them into a crate.

Photo of one of the ducks after it was put in a crate for rescue. Marcie Colleen

Bueno, who has a chicken coop in his backyard, took them to his home and is now looking for someone to adopt them. (He’s on Reddit as user SD_TMI if you’re interested.)

“I can’t keep them,” he said. “I just don’t have duck facilities, but it’s a lot better than Balboa Park.”

He guesses they were domesticated and dropped off at the park when their owner didn’t want them because they’re “incredibly tame.” He called them “lap birds.”

“These ducks are so used to being held, I would have no doubt they would sit on someones lap and watch TV on the sofa.”

Bueno posted an update on Reddit that you can see here, but you have to join Reddit to talk to him if you want to adopt the ducks.

Colleen, Brin and Bell praised their neighbors and fellow San Diegans for coming together to take care of the ducks. There’s even talk among those involved of getting together for a celebratory drink to toast to the ducks.

“It’s completely opposite of what our political climate is right now and it’s a breath of fresh salty air to have San Diegans come together to do something cool,” Bell said.

We’ll let Reddit have the last word.

Of Duckwatch 2018, one user said, “Never forget.”

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin