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LAYTON, Utah (AP) -- It wasn't chickens that were crossing the road. It was a mother duck and 10 ducklings and the road was Interstate 15, starting a lengthy rescue that ended happily.
Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Chris Simmons slowed traffic and herded the ducks, which were waddling south in the northbound lane, to the grassy median after getting the call Friday. But five of the ducklings slipped through a storm grate and Davis County Animal Control officers joined the rescue.
Officers Ashley Langford and Brandie Stanley used tongs to get two of the ducklings out, but the other three headed deep inside the pipe that runs under I-15.
They duct-taped a small net to the tongs and then waited for more than two hours before each little duckling eventually wandered from the pipe within reach of the net.
The baby ducks were placed in a pet carrier and the mother was in a separate crate as they were taken to a new home -- away from the highway -- at Layton Commons Park.
"We released the baby ducks first, then their mom. They all dashed to the pond. It was a great reunion," Langford said.
------ Information from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
