Frozen pants are popping up outside of homes in Minneapolis

When the mercury dips, people head indoors. If the temperatures stay too low for too long, cabin fever may set in, resulting in desperate searches for humorous diversions.

Some very cold residents in northeast Minneapolis have found just the thing to break up their long, cooped up days and nights – frozen pants.

SEE ALSO: Shocking photos show how bad the water in Flint really is

The hi-jinx started a few years ago, and once again garments are popping up throughout the area, bringing chuckles to the locals but confounding many further afield.

Among the mysteries is how does one make a pair of pants stand up on their own?

Well, when the temperature is hovering around the 0 mark, the process is apparently pretty simple – just add water and put them outside.

As for why choose pants, one Twitter user offered a possible explanation – "cold temps = you freeze your pants off."

More on AOL.com:
How much would Bernie Sanders's plan to make college free actually cost?
Auschwitz paramedic set to stand trial in Germany in February
Cologne attack survivor: 'That was really the worst night of my life'