Say cheese! Hilarious photos show pelicans playing with a ball

Wildlife photographer Lea Scaddan captured two Australian pelicans appearing to play with an abandoned dog ball on a beach at Safety Bay in Western Australia. One bird picked up the toy, whose teeth motif made it look as though the pelican had a human smile, then passed it to its companion.

Scaddan said the birds investigated the ball and seemed to play with it rather than eat it. The tidal sandbank is reachable by people and dogs at low tide, but becomes cut off as the tide rises; the article does not say how or when the toy was left behind.