Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have phoned the police over some stranded Ducklings on the M4 central reservation!?

116 replies

rosieposey · 27/05/2013 21:00

So I get on the M4 today at junction 15 (i live locally so was only going to junc 16) and im speeding up nicely in the outside lane, it was really busy today when i notice a mother duck and 4 teeny tiny baby ducklings against the concrete central reservation all huddled there with cars going past at 80 plus mph Shock I did not know what to do whereas my first instinct was to pull over and rescue them (Illegal and suicidal) i was so worried they would get flattened.

Anyway i phoned 999 because it was an emergency (sort of) and the call despatcher agreed with me that they were a hazard and, if god forbid they had started walking back out into the fast lane then it would have been bad for the little duck family but i was equally worried that some peoples instinct would have been to swerve or brake at high speed.

Anyway i went off at junc 16 to pick up DH and DS from softplay then drove back to the motorway and down to 15 again and they were gone :) The call despatcher said he was passing it on to highways straight away and it had been about half an hour since i had first noticed the Duck and ducklings till i drove past again so surely they were saved right? I think there would have been evidence if they hadnt made it but im all worried and a bit sad that i didnt know the outcome - i know you cant ring the police back to ask so what do you all think?

Half an hour was enough time for someone to be dispatched, stop the traffic on the motorway and scoop up mum and babies right?

Also i was going to ask any duck experts if ducks stay stationary when they are scared? Only because i thought afterwards that the motorway was so busy that there was no way she and her babies could have crossed those three lanes unless it was the dead of night and that maybe she had been there with her babies all night and morning because she was so terrified? Usually central reservations on motorways you can walk under but this was solid concrete and she just could not get any further ( nor i suspect get back to safety ) someone please tell me that she was saved and then i can get some sleep!

OP posts:
LynetteScavo · 27/05/2013 23:02

You should get the book, pinkballetflats. It's one of my favourite children's books. Smile

timidviper · 27/05/2013 23:11

I was on a motorway recently where a large black bird had been hit but was frantically flapping around on the ground in the traffic. It was actually quite scary when you are driving fast and have to make a split second decision whether to drive straight, swerve, etc.

I can see exactly why you rang and think the risk of an accident justified it.

oldendaysending · 27/05/2013 23:14

Sock, you rotted sod, I believed you!

oldendaysending · 27/05/2013 23:15

Rotten not rotted. Stupid iPad Grin

IneedAsockamnesty · 27/05/2013 23:19

You were supposed to because I am concerned about how you will all sleep worrying about the baby ducks.

Original poster
rosieposey · 27/05/2013 23:19

I believed you too! Maybe i will give them a ring tomorrow (the highways agency) after all they couldn't have rescued too many ducks and their babies from the M4 today.

OP posts:
toomuch2young · 27/05/2013 23:20

Good call OP, fluffy feathered lives saved and potentially human ones as well. When you hear some of the nonsense people come out with to call 999, yours was a sensible call.
I called 999 for horses which had broken out of a field and were charging down an a road which I was walking down. Did quite the job of slowing cars down in the mean time to with hand gestures and got some drivers to pull over to block the road while the terrified creatures galloped along. Was so scary and was convinced they would get hit, but all 3 got caught eventually, tho one of the police officers was clearly terrified of horses!!

HazeltheMcWitch · 27/05/2013 23:24

You needed OP.

bumblebeader · 28/05/2013 00:21

This happened to me once driving down the motorway, a whole family of ducks crossing from one side to the other. I didn't have time to even think about swerving and I'm still sad when I think about those thousands of feathers that I saw fill the air when I looked in my rearview mirror. Sad

Frettchen · 28/05/2013 00:36

I would've called 101 rather than 999, but YANBU for calling in the first place - best for the duck & ducklings and best for the road users.

emstats · 28/05/2013 00:39

Police wouldn't have minded you ringing cos its an easy job, just pass to highways! Then its highways call and if they don't attend and it causes a pile up its on their heads. You didn't do anything wrong. (101 could have been used, but given the time delay and the very real risk of it causing a motorway accident I don't think 999 was a prob in this instance, if it was the op would have told you to call back on 101 to clear the line)

Punkatheart · 28/05/2013 00:41

Went onto Twitter and looked it up - location and time. Found this:

faif ‏@FaithProbutt 10h
It's ok, Mum got the ducks got moved off the motorway!!!!!!!

We can all sleep easy!

IKnowWhat · 28/05/2013 00:47

I ran over a duck in a car park. I was driving really, really slowly thinking that the ducks would move out the way.........one of them didn't Sad.

ThatVikRinA22 · 28/05/2013 01:20

aw stop with duck killing stories....i need a happy ending!

Original poster
rosieposey · 28/05/2013 06:59

Punk that's my DD - she was in the car with me and as we went back believes they were moved, it would just be nice if someone had seen them moved or knew anything About it.

OP posts:
Damnautocorrect · 28/05/2013 08:19

Yes you did the right thing they could have caused an accident. (As well as get injured, but obviously they didn't they are all safe and sound on a beautiful river now!)

Apparently ducks often land on motorways, from the sky they look like water.

Original poster
rosieposey · 28/05/2013 08:25

This was a domestic duck though - i recognised her as my BIL has them, they are called Indian runners and cant fly apparently so she has escaped from somewhere with her babies i imagine.

OP posts:
LillyofWinchester · 28/05/2013 08:43

Email the highways agency & find out! We NEED to know the end of the story!

m.highways.gov.uk/ContactUs.aspx

For all queries, complaints, feedback and fault reporting regarding the Highways Agency?s network:

For any urgent road safety issues please call us as emails can­not always be dealt with upon receipt.

Email us at [email protected]

or

Call 0300 123 5000

Availble 24/7
Calls to 03 numbers cost no more than a national rate call to an 01 or 02 number and must count towards any inclusive min­tes in the same way as 01 and 02 calls. These rules apply to calls from any type of line includ­ing mobile, BT, other fixed line or payphone
Calls may be recorded or monitored
Do not use a mobile phone whilst driving

LillyofWinchester · 28/05/2013 08:47

Or tweet and ask them : highways_agency

Punkatheart · 28/05/2013 08:55

Your DD? Really! Gosh the world is small. Lovely that she has a feeling for animals too - well done for passing that gene on.

Kneedeepindaisies · 28/05/2013 08:56

I need to know the ducks were saved!

Last week the traffic stopped to let a duck and her ducklings cross the dual carriageway near my house. It was very cute.

FunLovinBunster · 28/05/2013 08:58

Duck update needed here, OP.
I have a sad faced 6year old DD who needs to know...

Kittensandkids · 28/05/2013 09:10

Can someone else not phone, just give a location etc. I can't I have the wrong accent.

youarewinning · 28/05/2013 09:11

You did the right thing. My friend swerved to hit an animal - night so probably a fox - and her car went upside down etc. She was 6 month pregnant and suffered broken bones and her DH a broken neck Shock

Took her years to stop feeling guilty about the injury to her DH (he's fine after op, got a metal vertabrae thingy), but said the instinct to avoid the animal was just natural and she never imagined the car rolling etc.

youarewinning · 28/05/2013 09:11

not swerved to hit Hmm swerved so not to hit!