The ongoing saga of Henrietta, or DOT the Duck (named after the Depart-ment of Transportation), came to a conclusion Saturday as the mother mallard and two of her ducklings made their way across University Drive reconstruction and to the safety of the nearby drainage ditch with a little help from their friends.

Teresa Chrest, who works for Swenson Hagen & Co. in a building near where the duck took up residence to lay her eggs, said two of the five eggs hatched Friday at about 5 p.m. Early Saturday, mother duck and the two ducklings made their way over the mound of dirt between the nest and University Drive and across the road, but their progress was stopped by the concrete barriers separating traffic from construction.

"At first she headed north along the barriers with her ducklings, but got frustrated and then headed south. I was out there flagging traffic over to the other lane, and people were real good about it. They'd open their windows and ask if that was the duck they had heard about," Chrest said. "Finally, a crew from Cofell's (the contractor handling storm sewer construction) came by and startled the mother, who flew off. A co-worker of mine carried the ducklings over the barriers and put them in the water, and the mother followed."

Back at the nest, Chrest found three eggs. One was cracked and another cold, but the third showed signs of life. "It was warm and and I could feel the heartbeat," she says. "I could feel it pecking its way out - and then a chirp and it hatched. Now I have a duckling until the zoo calls me back."

Chrest did try to reunite the duckling, which she's named Caboose, with its family. "But it was too late; it had already imprinted on us," she said. "We put it in the water with the others, but it would just come back to us."

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@bismarcktribune.com.)