Baby Ducks in a Row

But are they cute-enough to stop rush-hour traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike? You bet they are.

That’s what happened the other day. And it wasn’t the first time. And it won’t be the last.

I was in a line of traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike in the Meadowlands when a mother duck led her tiny ducklings onto the highway. I stopped, impulsively, and looked around at the other vehicles, and they slowed down. Then, I think I blew my horn when a tractor-trailer truck was rolling right towards them. He stopped. I got out and started yelling at the duck family to get off the highway. Another man was out there and I think the tractor-trailer driver was there, too. Three of us, men were yelling and clapping our hands and crawling under vehicles to get those ducks off the highway and back into the nearby water. The little ducks were panicking, and the last one – I think it was the runt – was so confused it spun around in a circle and fell over.

Eventually, the three of us got the ducks off the Turnpike and into Meadowlands water area and I ran back to my vehicle. None of the rush-hour commuters blew their horns. I waved to them, and smiled like a fool. But it wasn’t so foolish. Not really.