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Commuters had a close encounter with some feathered friends during Wednesday's morning rush hour, but one woman may have gotten a little too close for comfort.

A dashcam video captured by a Sun reader and posted to YouTube shows traffic grinding to a halt on the eastbound lanes of the highway around 9:15 a.m. as cars suddenly merge to avoid hitting a vehicle parked in the fast lane.

The video then shows a woman on the other side of the median, with her back to the cars speeding past her, carrying a cardboard box.

According to witness Wayne Hobbs, who shot the video, the woman was rounding up ducklings who had wandered onto the busy stretch of highway.

"I started seeing traffic backing up, and so I was creeping along and all of a sudden all the cars and trucks start pulling over to the right lane," said Hobbs. "And then I saw a little tuft of feathers in the air and I figured something got hit, and then I noticed this woman over on the other side of the (median) barricade.

"I thought 'What the heck is she doing?' And I thought maybe it was a mentally unstable person out on the Queensway, and then just as I was passing her I heard all the little ducklings, and of course she just lifted the crate up and it was full of ducklings."

The video then shows an SUV parked in the fast lane, with its driver's side door wide open and four-way hazard lights flashing.

"It looked like she just slammed on the brakes, stopped in the fast lane and hopped over the barrier. I couldn't believe it," Hobbs said.

OPP confirmed they received several calls about the incident and sent an officer to investigate, but neither the woman, nor the ducks, were found.

Police viewed the video footage.

While no one was hurt, and police did not lay charges, the OPP warned drivers, "Do not stop in a live lane of traffic to assist animals."

Const. John Armit said drivers should call 9-1-1 if they feel the hazard is an emergency, and pull over in a safe location and remain in the vehicle until police arrive.

The incident is similar to one in Quebec where a father and daughter were killed when their motorcycle slammed into a car parked in the fast lane of a highway near Candiac.

The driver in that incident was charged and convicted of two counts each of dangerous driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death, and slapped with a 10-year driving ban.

Anyone with information about Wednesday's incident is asked to call the OPP Ottawa detachment at 613-270-9171.

Twitter: @OttSunHelmer