A little help from their friends

The question Monday morning on U.S. 41 near Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport wasn’t “why did the ducks cross the road?” but rather, “just exactly how did they do it?”

With a little help from their human friends, that’s how.

Melissa Leduc (say, LeDuke, not the much-funnier pronunciation) was on her way to Observer  Media Group in downtown when she spotted a black-bellied whistling duck couple and 14 babies approaching the highway near University Parkway.

Leduc stopped, quickly called nearby police and family members and gathered as many passers-by as she could. Together, they stopped four lanes of traffic to let the feathered family get to the other side.

Police arrived but the duck family had already been  ushered across.