Wis. Woman Braves Traffic, Saves 14 Ducklings

WEST ALLIS, Wis. — A mother duck didn't survive her walk across a busy Wisconsin roadway, but a motorist made sure the 14 ducklings stayed safe – even one that wiggled under her dashboard.

Angela Speed of the Wisconsin Humane Society says the good Samaritan was driving in West Allis, a Milwaukee suburb, on Friday when she saw the newly hatched mallards trying to cross a busy road.

The woman told Speed that a vehicle in front of her appeared to intentionally hit the mother duck, leaving her ducklings confused in the middle of the road.

The woman gathered each into her car and took them to the Humane Society.

But an hour later, she heard a peep. A mechanic took apart her dashboard and found the 14th duckling. Speed says the brood is healthy and expected to survive.

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On the Net:

Wisconsin Humane Society: http://www.wihumane.org/default.aspx

Comments

[sisyphus93]

11:26 AM on 05/06/2010

I was in Saint Louis last weekend and saw two adult geese and a gaggle of babies in the grassy median of a busy state highway. I about had a stroke. The rest of the flock had made it across both the northbound and southbound lanes (4 total) but the family was stuck, hesitant. I pulled off, and when there was a break in traffic, I ran at the geese, which all fled across the road. Disaster averted. Then I fled before someone reported the crazy white man chasing wildlife on the highway.

[HHUA]

12:52 AM on 05/02/2010

What kind of beast would "intentionally hit" a duck (especially one with babies!)?

Sadly the world is FULL of such cretins!

[goodwill2]

11:35 PM on 04/26/2010

Good woman. It is too easy to overlook these stories when one is trapped in a seething cauldron of cynicism, hate, violence, cruelty and anger.

[saami]

03:28 PM on 04/26/2010

Shame on the person if they intentionally hit the mama duck; they have no respect for life. Raves to the woman who saved the babies. In Seattle, we stop for ducks and have been known to help mama ducks get their broods to safety.

[sisyphus93]

03:16 PM on 04/26/2010

If that driver really did intentionally hit the duck, I can only hope s/he gets throat cancer or something worse, and soon.

[StAlphonso]

12:16 PM on 04/26/2010

"Woman save 14 ducklings from busy WI highway."

"In other news...3 people killed in ten car pile-up on busy WI highway. Cause still under investigation."

[Dvmx]

11:59 AM on 04/26/2010

"a vehicle in front of her appeared to intentionally hit the mother duck"

What kind of degenerate would intentionally run over the mother duck? We like to think about the lady that saved the orphaned ducklings, but what about the freak that killed their mother?

[Brad Severance]

11:41 AM on 04/26/2010

That duckling that hid himself in the dashboard is a real quack.

[Animal Compassion]

11:33 AM on 04/26/2010

Awesome!!! Thank you.

[BobSacomano]

10:39 AM on 04/26/2010

I love people like this.....as a matter of fact I married one.

[AristotlePA]

10:31 AM on 04/26/2010

Stories like this one come to show that there are plenty of compassionate people out there, and that whoever felt like doing the same or have done it is not alone. Small acts keep this fire burning and thanks to the Internet sites like this a lot of more people can see it and do the same when they have the chance. Ducks and their ducklings are irresistibly cute and interesting at the same time. One can burn a lot of time just watching them go about they business.

[felixthecat]

09:32 AM on 04/26/2010

poor mother, thank god for the woman who rescued the chicks.

[RButler]

09:01 AM on 04/26/2010

Baby ducks are irresistibly cute. But, as Daffy Duck would say of the motorist who ran over the mother duck "Dissshhhhhpicable.".

[babybuda]

08:55 AM on 04/26/2010

Good for the ducks , too bad the folks who passed by the guy NYC didn't find the same compassion for a fellow human . Its like pro-lifers who support the wars !

[cornflower]

11:57 AM on 04/26/2010

And the death penalty! Love the hypocrisy in that!

[blisster]

08:38 AM on 04/26/2010

I would hope it's safe to say, most would not "intentionally" run over the mother duck and most would stop and help the ducklings if the mother had been hit.