What was thought to be bewitched traffic cones has been revealed to be nature at its cheekiest.
Much like the final act in a episode of Scooby Doo, the mystery of the moving neon road guides was actually the work of a mischievous little bird.
Road workers at New Zealand's Milford Sound, a popular destination for sightseers, became increasingly puzzled when traffic cones at the entrance of a one-way tunnel kept moving about when no one was looking.
One sneaky CCTV operation later and the mystery was solved. In the cutest possible way.
The orange guides were being moved about by native kea birds when no one was looking.
The New Zealand Traffic Agency speculated that the notoriously social birds were playing on the road to get the attention of humans, in the hopes of being fed.
On the original YouTube post, Kevin Thompson, manager for the Milford Alliance said "We think the keas listen for the cars in the tunnel and move the road cones between the streams of traffic."
For now the construction group are trialling heavier road cones to keep the keas safe and deter them from playing in traffic; something a nationally endangered species probably shouldn't be doing.
