Duckmaster

ducks. I’m just happy we were able to bring her on in,” Anthony Petrina, the hotel’s duckmaster for six years, said.

Every day at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. he hosts the Peabody Duck March, where he directs the North American mallards between the Grand Lobby and their Royal Duck Palace on the hotel rooftop.

The honor on Tuesday capped a week of attention for Wheeler that began as she headed to a Memorial Day lunch. While walking downtown, Wheeler and a friend noticed an adult duck on the sidewalk quacking.

Wheeler didn’t notice anything unusual at first, but when she returned two hours later after her meal, she walked past the same spot and heard more quacking from the storm drain.

As Wheeler and a friend approached the drain, the noise became clearer and the adrenaline rush kicked in.

“I don’t think we even had a moment to discuss it, I was so eager to jump down in the drain,” Wheeler said.

With the help of her friend, a police officer and a few other bystanders Wheeler began retrieving the ducklings, pulling all eight out in several trips, reuniting them with the frantic momma duck on the sidewalk.

Wheeler wanted to show her children the rescue in a more timely manner and posted the video on Facebook.

“Little did I know that video was going to go viral the way it did,” she said.

The honorary duckmaster title is primarily bestowed upon hotel guests who purchase the Ducky Day package, Petrina said.

Wheeler is among notable honorary duckmasters Patrick Swayze, Oprah Winfrey, Emeril Lagasse, Gene Simmons, Paula Deen and Kevin Bacon – to name a few, he said.

“I never thought saving some ducks would be so viral, so huge,” Wheeler’s mother, Clara Wheeler, said.

The elder Wheeler, who was present during the Peabody Duck March, said her daughter has always been an animal lover and a great mother to her three children.

What she did to save the ducks is nothing compared to what she would have done for her own children, she said.