Going down the sidewalk in front of work, a duck with a bunch of baby ducks tailgating momma as close as they can, is cautiously edging up to me, looking like she intends to cross Broadway.
Broadway is 4 lanes and 45 mph, besides that, there's three sets of railroad tracks on a raised rocky bed.
So I try to scoot her down the lawn so she can head to the big pond out back of the plant.
She is very reluctant to change her mind, a buddy sees this and says,
"Mike, you'll be here all day trying to keep here back, she is going across the road.
there is a little pond beyond the tracks and that is where she is going.
I'll stop traffic and you get behind her and herd her across".
We get a lull in traffic and see no trains at the moment.
She is real slow and cautious. I can't get too close or she halts progress.
I am behind clapping my hands and telling her to GO!
Finally, we cross, she hops the curb and the little ones flounder against it.
We scoop them up and flip them to the stones where the have no trouble getting up to mom.
I see a car is stopped to the right of me.
We see one train headlight but appears to be stationary, meanwhile momma hops the first rail but again, the little ones are against an even bigger wall, the rail towers over them.
Tom and I are grabbing them while they are scrambling back and forth wanting mom.
Two or three at a time fit in two hands and we shuttle them to the rear of Mrs. duck, one jumps out of my hands and falls about a foot and a half, lays there and gets up un-hurt, I catch it and on to the next.
Finally all of them are behind momma on the other side.
We get back, and as I am washing my hands with some bottled water, Tom says, "A little duck poo never hurt anyone, I hunt and fish but like to take care of wildlife". "The mother duck caught on to what we were doing".
I thought about it later, for the ducks to have survived, we had to have been there on time, and Tom passing by at the right moment.
Cool.
Broadway is 4 lanes and 45 mph, besides that, there's three sets of railroad tracks on a raised rocky bed.
So I try to scoot her down the lawn so she can head to the big pond out back of the plant.
She is very reluctant to change her mind, a buddy sees this and says,
"Mike, you'll be here all day trying to keep here back, she is going across the road.
there is a little pond beyond the tracks and that is where she is going.
I'll stop traffic and you get behind her and herd her across".
We get a lull in traffic and see no trains at the moment.
She is real slow and cautious. I can't get too close or she halts progress.
I am behind clapping my hands and telling her to GO!
Finally, we cross, she hops the curb and the little ones flounder against it.
We scoop them up and flip them to the stones where the have no trouble getting up to mom.
I see a car is stopped to the right of me.
We see one train headlight but appears to be stationary, meanwhile momma hops the first rail but again, the little ones are against an even bigger wall, the rail towers over them.
Tom and I are grabbing them while they are scrambling back and forth wanting mom.
Two or three at a time fit in two hands and we shuttle them to the rear of Mrs. duck, one jumps out of my hands and falls about a foot and a half, lays there and gets up un-hurt, I catch it and on to the next.
Finally all of them are behind momma on the other side.
We get back, and as I am washing my hands with some bottled water, Tom says, "A little duck poo never hurt anyone, I hunt and fish but like to take care of wildlife". "The mother duck caught on to what we were doing".
I thought about it later, for the ducks to have survived, we had to have been there on time, and Tom passing by at the right moment.
Cool.
