Natalie Therese and her partner were driving home from a bed-and-breakfast by the Columbia River in Washington when suddenly, through the mist, they spotted what looked like a big clump of fur in the middle of the road.

Startled, Therese had a feeling they needed to stop.

“[I] yelled to watch out and pull over,” Therese told The Dodo.

As she inched closer, she saw them — three baby otters stranded in the street.

“My partner thought [they were] just a clump of dirt or something!” Therese said.

Putting the pieces together, Therese realized she had seen the otters’ mother run away from an oncoming car. The babies, much too young to know what to do, had just cowered in the street. Now they were all alone, their scared mom watching from the nearby woods.

Therese decided she would help them get back to safety, and started pointing the shivering babies in the right direction.

“I gently encouraged them off the road,” Therese said.

Therese stood by, ushering them toward their mother, waiting to make sure each one figured out what to do.

“I stood back by the car and waited until the mother came out and all three babies ran off the road together,” Therese said. “[Then] I waited a few more minutes to make sure they wouldn’t run back to the road.”

Therese also recorded the event in a video that you can watch here:

That day, Therese made a big impact on the future of an otter family, and they made an equally large impact on her.

“I was so touched and moved to tears from the whole experience,” Therese said. “Nature and her creatures are just so beautiful.”