Crux saves ducks: an official road guide

Many Southern Lakes motorists at this time of year will have come across the cute, but potentially tragic, situation where a mother duck is heading across a main road with her gang of ducklings in tow.

Crux found exactly that situation this week on the main State Highway 6 on the Queenstown side of the Shotover Bridge. It was raining and the mother duck had around 15 duckling in tow - confused as to which way she was heading.

The mother duck clearly wanted to be on the Quail Rise side of the road, but her ducklings had got it into their young heads that they really wanted to be on the Glenda Drive/airport side of the road.

A quick thinking motorist had already managed to stop the traffic (at some risk to himself and the ducks - main image) but the tug of love continued with the mother heading to Quail Rise and her offspring determined to head in the opposite direction. 

We managed to get the whole team of ducks safely to the Glenda Drive/airport side of the road (the ducklings won - having the numbers) but the steep sides to the road meant it was impossible to get anywhere else but up or down the main road. The ducks chose uphill towards Bunnings.

But it was going to a very long waddle for the youngsters and no safe destination once we got there.

The initial good samaritan had to get back to his work so it was up to Crux to figure out what to do next. 

After a long time, a lot more rain, some kind passing motorists stopping and offering their advice, the mother duck made up her mind that home was 100% on the other side of the road, towards Quail Rise.

Sorry Bunnings - that was the decision.

So there was no option but to single handedly, and with not much dignity, stop the entire two way very busy traffic flow and let the duck family get back onto the side of the road that was "home."

They climbed the steep slope on the other side, the ducklings at this stage realising that their mother was fully in charge. The slope was so steep that many ducklings just rolled back down to the bottom just like the little balls of feathers that they actually were.

The advice is simple - drive carefully and share the road!

They did not give up though and eventually all of them got to the top of the slope and were taken back into the safety of the trees.

It was a happy ending but what's the correct thing to do in this situation?

One of the ideas was to try and get them all into a cardboard box and take them to the nearest river or lakeside beach. The only cardboard box that we could find was one driver who stopped with a takeaway box full of hot Kentucky Fried Chicken. That  did not seem suitable.

We asked the Department of Conservation and they said the Queenstown Kiwi Bird Park would be the best people to talk to.

Their advice was clear. Queenstown ducks live happily in all sorts of places - not just rivers and lakes. They like grass, and fields, and trees - all sorts of places. So we should always let them get back to wherever they want to go - wherever that is.

The ducks are in charge. Just be very careful with stopping the traffic.

The good news is that hardly anybody wants to run over a young family of ducks - so take care - and drive with ducks in mind at this time of year.