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

[rosieposey]

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 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!

Right DD is going to tweet the highways agency ( I haven't got an account ) and I will email them :)

Yes DD is an 18 hear old animal mad vegan and she was stressing about the du is too punk!

ahh poor ducks, i imagine they were moved off as they would be a major hazard. i saw a sign on the m25 the other day warning people to slow down as 'animals in the road' maybe similar circumstance.

poor bird often end up as toast on motorways as from the air they look like rivers :(.

absolutely the right thing to do to phone it in, people will swerve for wildlife,

all ducks are on the move with ducklings this week, we have had them all coming out of the hedgerows, and walking down the lanes with ducklings following, causing problems.

Ducks - not du is.

Did you hear anything?

Our police service in Dorset/Wiltshire text you the outcome if you ring on a mobile.

I called 999 last year one evening (DH was driving) as a car had broken down on the A303 (between Mere and Willoughby Hedge services on the two lane/one lane hill) and the do was setting in thickly. The driver was only a young lass and she was clearly terrified, crying her eyes out as huge lorries swerved round her. There is nowhere to safely exit the vehicle, or stop our car and no-way back to her.

The switchboard lady assured me try would have someone out to her ASAP and ten minutes later I got a text message to say they were with the lass and had stopped the traffic and all was ok.

Im waiting for the highways agency to reply to my email, it says on their automatic reply that it can take up to 15 days to reply.

Sorry for linking to a DM article but saw this and thought of you, rosie

Cute! i wonder how long they will take to reply?

Hey Rosieposey you go the opposite way to me! I get on at J16 fom home and off at J15 for work! I didn't notice any ducks this morning - what time was this?

15 days?! Don't they know how many people need to know the outcome here?!

Will be checking back regularly!

I'm an emerging call operator, we take calls like this regularly. TBH, they usually make me smile - amid all the nuisance calls, not to mention calls re domestic abuse, drunken rows, stabbings etc, it heartens me to know that people will report something that may cause an accident, and that may save ducks/swans etc. In my experience, the police usually respond to such calls. On fact, I had a caller request the fire service just the other day. Turned out she was calling about swans on the motorway. The fire service operator chuckled, said 'we don't usually handle this kind of thing', then dispatched a unit to deal with it. So your ducks were hopefully looked after . I personally think that you were right to make the call, btw, and am never pissed off by calls like this.

Another emergency operator here - you definitely did the right thing.

Shadows sounds like a bit of over monitoring was going on lol

Ripley, feck, am worried that you are my boss now .

Just read this, hope duck family were saved!

I wouldn't be surprised if the duck had nested by the motorway (or even on the central reservation) in the first place - they do nest in some crazy places that the ducklings can't easily get out of.

I'd have felt a bit awkward about ringing 999 for this but when animals in the road are at risk of causing traffic accidents I reckon its justified.

Yippee!!! Am very happy :) got this email ...
Dear Rosie,

Thank you for your email to the Highways Agency.

The family of ducks were successfully removed from the motorway.

I trust this helps you with your enquiry. If you have any future enquiries regarding a Highways Agency related issue please visit our website where information on all Highways Agency policies and procedures can be found: www.highways.gov.uk. Alternatively you can contact us via email or on our 24 hour information line on 0300 123 5000.

Kind Regards

Jon
Highways Agency Information Line
Tel: 0300 123 5000
Email [email protected]
Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

Highways Agency, an Executive Agency of the Department for Transport.

From: Rosie Posey [mailto:rosieposey
Sent: 29 May 2013 11:22
To: HAIL
Subject: Ducks on the M4 Monday 27th May

Hello,

Hope you can help? On Sunday i phoned the police emergency number because i was inbetween junctions 15 and 16 in the Swindon Wiltshire area on the M4 and I saw a mother duck with 4 little ducklings huddled against the concrete central reservation just after coming on to the motorway at junction 15. Obviously there was a danger to the general public as people often swerve or stop rapidly for wildlife and as the road was so fast and busy i didnt want to just not report it and risk there being a very bad accident or pile up.

They were literally in the fast lane up against the central reservation and must have crossed during the night and couldnt get any further because of the concrete. I imagine they must have been there for a few hours because i cannot see how they could have crossed the entire carriageway of a motorway otherwise.

I phoned the 999 number who said they would put it straight through to highways and i made this call at 1.09 pm on Monday 27th (so the day before yesterday).

I was really hoping that you would be able to tell me the outcome and if the duck/ducklings were removed? I had my children in the car with me and pulled off at junction 16 to make the call and they are very anxious to know what happened and if indeed the ducks were ok?

Hope you can help, Any info on some rescued ducks on the M4 early monday afternoon would be gratefully received by myself and my children!

Kind regards, Rosie

:) have been worried about these ducklings since I read this post, thanks for update op

Am glad everyone ( ok nearly everyone ) thinks I did the right thing - duckings, mother ducks and potentially lives were in danger so I would do the same again. Love the lovely police/highways agency

Definitely, hazardous to ducks and drivers. Any livestock on the motorway is potentially an accident in waiting. As others said, we react instinctively, not rationally to things jumping in front of our cars, causing people to swerve into other lanes etc. you would call if it was a shed load of timber say, and that's not going to be running around across lanes now is it.

Yay! Wonderful news. Well done OP!

Agreed Monty - I just can't believe no one noticed the
And called in, they were a bit camouflaged against the concrete barrier I suppose but I saw her and all 4 of her babies clearly as I was in the fast lane approaching her.

I've been thinking about this too. So grateful for a good outcome! Well done you! :)

Have been watching this thread in interest. What a lovely ending. Well done OP!

Ahh how lovely. I drive this stretch every day and had thought about them every day. There was certainly no 'evidence' so I'd hoped they'd been rescued

Now lets hope she takes them somewhere safe. Ducks are awful parents :(