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It’s not uncommon for the Washington State Patrol to stop traffic in order to herd baby animals across a busy roadway. But with traffic so frustrating these days, should law enforcement really spend its time tending to the tiny creatures?

Troopers stopped several lanes of I-5 in Tacoma, at the Puyallup River, to provide safe passage across the freeway for a family of ducks, causing a six-mile backup.

Related: Family of ducks blocks I-5 traffic through Tacoma

³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio listener Annie asked a fair question: “Which would you rather be: 15 minutes late to work or be a murderer? I think this shows the goodness of humanity.”

Good point. Also, the ducks themselves are not the entire reason troopers closed the freeway.

“A lot of it is prevention,” explained state trooper Chris Webb. “We don’t want multi-car collisions occurring because some ducklings are crossing the street. So a lot of what we’re doing out there is prevention and, hopefully, for a little bit of traffic stopped now, it will stop something bigger in the long run.”

Webb says it’s up to each trooper to decide whether to close lanes. They treat ducks or geese, or any loose animal, just like they do a piece of tire, a mattress or any other debris.

“Trailer hitches, tire debris, wood in the roadway — what we try to do to prevent further danger is to remove that debris, and same with the ducks,” Webb said. “If we see ducks in the road, we want to get them off the roadway before someone slams on their brakes or does an erratic lane change.”

Not surprisingly, saving ducklings is more rewarding than pulling a mattress off the side of the road.

“Our No. 1 goal out there is human life — saving humans,” Webb said. “If we can save ducks at the same time, that’s awesome. That’s great, too.”

Webb says what’s more dangerous than swerving to avoid a family of ducks is stopping your car and trying to herd them to safety yourself.

“We’ve had that done before; that’s not smart,” Webb said. “Pedestrians and cars don’t mix out here.”