WATERLOO - A mother wood duck and her nine children got a ride to a lake after they attempted to cross busy Highway 218 Friday morning.

Bob Carpenter of Evansdale was driving on the highway when he spotted the family waddling in the roadway near the La Porte Road exit.

"Them cars were coming, and I thought 'Oh no, they're going to get hit,'" Carpenter said.

He pulled over and herded them onto the grass near Cadillac Lanes bowling alley.

Carpenter said he was baffled as to how the ducks could have wandered into a commercial and residential area and speculated they were headed to the Cedar River.

Waterloo Police Officer Jeremy Pohl was dispatched to keep the ducks contained until Denise Warns with Black Hawk County Animal Control arrived with a net. The three rounded up the ducks and placed them in pet carriers.

Warns said she will release the ducks at George Wyth State Park.

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.