An encounter with some Ducks!!

On June 6th at around 8:35 I was walking to my office as I would on any other working day. I was in front of the post office near my office and I began thinking that it would take me another 5 minutes in the bright sun to reach my destination. Something caught my attention - three people, probably construction workers staring and commenting on something. "That's strange..." I mumbled. In the land where people just mind their own business there they were, doing something unusual. I looked in the direction they were looking, which was across the busy three lane street and couldn't believe my eyes. There I saw a momma duck with her ducklings. The mommy was leading the way and the ducklings followed her in a well defined arrow-like formation.

"We can do it!"

They weren't trying to cross the street but were walking along the median. That was brave and well planned. It was the stuff that you see in movies and on YouTube and so my first reaction was to shoot a couple of pics. While I took my phone out and began the task, the 3 gentlemen were still speculating on what might happen next.

A river called Kamogawa (river Kamo) flows about 150 meters from the spot. The momma duck sure knew her way. I don't know how this family came this far. Probably they ventured out in the night or they escaped from capture or something. It looked like it would all end happily in a couple of hours. Ya for that pace it would take them at least 2 hours. The Japanese are kind-hearted and they sure would help these ducks to the river.

It was all going as planned when out of nowhere a crow descended on the group. Crows in Japan are BIG. When I first saw one here I was like "Steroids!!" and then I heard some of them caw...sounded like they had a sore throat or something. That was funny. Well, getting back to the size...in fact the ones in India are half the size of these crows. I bet if these crows migrated to India they could easily bully all those local crows. It so happened that a crow decided to try her luck. Naturally, the kids panicked but one hyperactive kid just ran astray.
While I was busy watching and filming this, 2 things happened:
1. The momma came to the rescue (Natural instinct)
2. Drivers stopped their vehicles (Let's take it as human nature for now)

Yes, in this busy world there still are people who care about some random duck! There were two truck drivers who stopped their trucks - very patient drivers indeed! The little duckling that wandered off panicked a lot. With the traffic on one side and the crow on the other, its chances of survival were dwindling. It's going to be a mess I thought. Wait a sec, this crow isn't calling for backup....lol...

I was still on the other side of the road and I stopped filming. When all seemed lost a foreigner who didn't speak Japanese and who was a tourist got on the road and guided the birds to the pavement. The vehicles honked in gratitude and went their way. The foreigner stayed there for a couple of minutes and then as a crowd began to gather, he left the scene. The crowd was all the more excited and various devices for taking pictures came out one by one. As I watched all this, the light turned green for me and I crossed the road. The scene had changed now - the birds had become celebrities. I could hear "Kawaii ne, Cheeesu" ("They are so cute", say "Cheese") and so on. A security guard clad in his green uniform who works at a company nearby came there as well. I know him as an acquaintance and I see him and wish him almost everyday. We chit-chat sometimes about the weather, work and some casual stuff too. He came to the rescue and made sure that the ducks didn't wander off to the road. He began advising the ducks what to do and what not to do and kept a close watch, much like a vigil. I took a couple of pics too, especially of all the people who were taking the pics...lol...

"You gotta stay off the road!"

"Listen kids, we are famous!!"

"Let's just pose for now"

Say Cheese

The man in green began guiding the ducks slowly towards the river and also began talking to the people and me. But it was almost impossible as the ducks failed to realize that he was only trying to help. They panicked and when the mentor tried to move them as a group. I just thought it was too stupid to move them this way. So I came to my office, took a cardboard box and went back to the scene in under 3 minutes.

Surprise!!! There were 2 cops on the scene now. Wow! Never imagined that. Now there were 3 people in a triangle formation trying to move the ducks. It looked ridiculous from where I was, but nevertheless I admire their effort. If at all they succeeded, they would have probably reach the river in like...a day.... :-)

I offered the cardboard and told them to put the birds in it and take them to the river. I guess ducks have good instincts. The moment they saw the cardboard box, they knew something was up (they mistook me to be a butcher perhaps). The mom tried to run away, the kids were just shocked and in fact one little guy pooped (yup, that's what you literally call "shit scared"). One police man blocked the mommy's run away attempt and caught her gently (let's assume so...:-P) - good job buddy I thought.

The other 2 gentlemen began placing the ducklings into the card board box as I held it inclined so they may not escape out. They were probably just a couple of days old. Finally all were in the box, all 10 of them. The two cops, one with the duck and the other with the box appreciated the effort and left but probably said the Japanese equivalent of "WTF" silently on their way.

The guard and I bid farewell and off I began walking towards my office again. On the way I ran into the foreigner. What a coincidence! I said - "Hey, What's up? I saw you helping the ducks earlier over there. That was great. They are safe", he seemed to understand and said "Gracious". I said my favorite phrase "Enjoy your stay. Ciao" and headed fast towards my office. I hope the ducks found their home.