It turned out to be green pool-noodle and a bit of duct-tape.
But the object looked odd enough to prompt police to shut down a rural part of Saanich late last week until officers and the RCMP Explosive Disposal Unit determined it wasn't a pipe bomb.
Saanich police was called around 10 a.m. to the 200 block of Durrance Rd. by a resident who found a suspicious item in a ditch nearby.
"We couldn't outright determine that it wasn't an explosive device, and there were some indicators that it could have been," said Sgt. Dean Jantzen.
The EDU was called in from Nanaimo and, with the help of a robot and water cannon, determined the item did not pose any danger.
"It was a type of toy-foam, water-noodle floatie, wrapped in duct tape with a wooden handle on the end," Jantzen said.
Now police are treating the "hoax" as a criminal investigation and are looking to charge those responsible for the scare with criminal mischief.
"It did tie up resources for most of the day," Jantzen said.
Anyone with information on the incident as asked to contact police at 250-475-4321.
kslavin@saanichnews.com