VANCOUVER — It was a case of the fuzz leading the fuzzy Sunday when police helped a duck and her nine ducklings escape from Vancouver Police Department headquarters.

The wild adventure began in the late afternoon when a keen-eyed citizen spotted a family of ducks looking to fly the coop from the ledge of the third floor patio of the secure building. The citizen called in wildlife rescue, but it was police who arrived first on the scene, according to a VPD news release.

Officers found the fowl and after a brief investigation, determined that the ducklings had recently hatched in the VPD's rooftop vegetable garden.

It was then that a trio of off-duty officers and a wildlife rescue volunteer aided and abetted the family in its breakout attempt from the Cambie Street building.

They corralled then coaxed the ducklings into a box and brought them to the street below. The officers spread out and stopped traffic, clearing a path for the volunteer who walked the ducklings toward False Creek with their mother waddling close behind.

Once the ducklings were freed at water's edge, they reunited with their mother and bathed in their first moments of freedom.

mrobinson@vancouversun.com