A Duck Out of Water

Highway police in the western German city of Münster had a sinking feeling Tuesday when a caller informed them that an Ente, or duck, was lying on the side of a stretch of road.

With Germany, like many other countries in Europe, struggling to contain the spread of bird flu after the detection of a few cases, the first reaction was panic. Officers already had images in their heads of donning protective suits and masks and gingerly picking up a highly-infected bird and sending it to the nearest laboratory for tests.

But once the team rushed to the place near the village of Ibbenbüren, a sigh of relief went around: instead of a sick bird they found a stalled car of the French make Citroen 2 CV.

The affair turned out to be a linguistic misunderstanding -- much like the Volkswagen is known as the "Beetle" in English, Germans fondly call the Citroen 2 CV an "Ente."

Needless to say, the relieved officers helped the metal bird on its further journey by simply filling it up.