Catherine Hiles
No Comments

Why Did the Geese Cross the Road? Because the Cops Made Them.

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page

Family of Geese Shuts Down I-80 near Chicago

Picture the scene: you’re driving home from work, when traffic suddenly starts to slow. You curse under your breath and apply your brakes, wondering if you’ll make it home in time to enjoy your evening. As you come to a stop, you wonder which idiotic driver has caused this slow-down, and hope that things get moving soon lest you miss out on your downtime completely. You probably also wish you’d peed before starting your journey, given the giant bottle of water you drank right before leaving work.

Office Space GIFAfter five minutes, you’re probably starting to wonder if you’ll ever make it off the freeway. After ten minutes, you’re starting to lose hope. After fifteen minutes, you might be eyeing that empty bottle wondering if anyone will notice you peeing in it. But suddenly, traffic starts up again and your life just improved a thousand fold.

Now, in most situations like this one, you’ll probably see the aftermath of a collision, or perhaps you won’t see any cause for the standstill and wonder why the traffic gods hate you. For commuters driving home along I-80 westbound near Chicago Tuesday evening, the culprits were a family of geese.

Family of Geese Shuts Down I-80 near Chicago

The family of geese was playing chicken with traffic on I-80

The geese somehow ended up along the busy freeway, with the babies wandering in and out of the left lane. The two adult geese and five goslings were nonchalantly wandering along the outer shoulder, slowing down traffic, while some good Samaritans tried to keep the geese in the shoulder to avoid catastrophe. Eventually, police cars were able to stop traffic in order to coax the family out of the left shoulder and across the freeway so they could exit I-80 at the next available off-ramp.

Family of Geese Shuts Down I-80 near Chicago

Cops bravely directed the geese to safety

We’re so used to seeing bad things on the news that it was quite refreshing to stumble upon this heartwarming rescue story. Kudos to the officers and bystanders involved in rescuing this little family. We can only hope that the parents will stick to the pond rather than the interstate as their little ones grow.