Make Way for Ducklings

A mother duck and her ducklings temporarily stopped traffic at Los Olivos and Garden streets on Tuesday morning. Several cars, trucks, and one two-wheeled electric cycle idled at the four-way stop after sharp-eyed motorists held back for the mallard and six ducklings as they crossed the residential intersection below Santa Barbara’s Old Mission.

It might be wild animal baby season in the city right now. A passel of possums were seen on the Westside earlier that morning. What looked to be an opossum suffering a bad case of bedhead turned out to be a mother jill with seven joeys clinging aboard as she faced off with a neighborhood cat. After a few moments, they went their separate ways.

The mallards also seemed to make it to safety as they ducked into a large, well-gardened property on the corner, which has no resident cats.

Are wild-animal babies crossing your path? Send stories and photographs to tips@independent.com.

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