EUGENE, Ore. -- Perching in branches, peeking at passers-by, countless fairies have taken up residence in Hendricks Park in Eugene.

The small clay and pipecleaner figurines appear each spring, perhaps some sort of mythical creature migration nestling into rhododendrons and making homes in azaleas, park regulars say.

"I think they're wonderful," retired head gardener Michael Robert said as he led more than 45 people on his annual rhododendron garden tour. "They've been showing up here for years. Someone with a good heart is putting them in."

Someone has obviously devoted hours to crafting each foxlike sprite, but a creator has never come forward, said Martin Sage, who lives next to the park and walks its paths every morning.

"One or two people claim to know who does it, but I don't know if they do or not," the retired biology professor said. "They seem to change their character just a little bit each year. This year they've been in obvious places, but in past years they've been tucked back in the foliage."

One green-and-blue striped fairy sat in a photinia, its orange and yellow striped hat tipped at a jaunty angle. Another rested between two rhody branches as if waiting for a bus. Another looked remarkably like Gene Kelly in "Singin in the Rain," its tiny feet kicked to one side as it swung from a branch.

"How cute!" exclaimed one woman as she spotted one for the first time. A man with a white beard remarked, "Looks like somebody had fun."

"It's very Eugene, isn't it?" University of Oregon law professor John Bonine said.

Although the pixies aren't exactly sanctioned park residents, Robert said they're always welcome.

"We don't like people going in the beds and trampling, but there's no signs of that at all," he said.

The fantastic forest creatures disappear as summer appears, most likely snatched up by parkgoers eager to have one live in their home.

At least one may find a new home on another continent.

Uzbekistan native Dinara Ziganshina said she has to return home in two weeks, and one of the cuties may have to come with her.

"I will come back and take it," she said with a laugh.