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It turns out to a lot of local folks, pulling pranks is no joke.

We asked our readers to submit their favorite pranks for April Fools’ Day, and fools rushed in to share their top stunts and hoaxes. Suffice it to say, there are some dirty, rotten pranksters around town.

We voted, and have published three of our favorites here. These and all other submissions are posted on our Web site at islandpacket.com/aprilfools. Read them carefully to guard against becoming the victim of any practical jokes today.

And when you’re done reading, go out and try one of those new left-handed Whoppers. We hear they’re quite tasty.

• WINNER - Most Profilic: Donna D'Amico, Hilton Head Island
  The old standby while I was in the workplace was leaving all the executives urgent phone messages from people like Mr. Lyons, Mr. Gerry Raff, Mr. Tiger, Ms. Sally Mander, etc. and leaving the phone number for the National Zoo!

• WINNER - Most Subversive: Ed Kaponer, Bluffton
  Teaching in New York City always has been challenging, and one way of coping was to play an occasional prank on one's colleagues, or better yet, one's supervisors. One year, as April 1 approached, I devised a prank that would surely be appreciated by fellow staff members and probably less so by the school's newbie principal.

• WINNER - Most Elaborate: Teresa Hammonds and Amie Carlton, Bluffton
  Upon learning that the New York Giants would play the Green Bay Packers for the NFC Championship and a possible trip to the Super Bowl XLII, I remarked to my husband that I would love to steal our friend Eric’s “Giants Fan Parking Only” sign and ransom it back to him. I enlisted the help of our friend Amie and of course I had to let Eric’s wife, Jessica, in on it. Since Eric owns his own business and could be at home at all hours of the day, Jessica’s involvement was a must.

• David Beazel, Bluffton
  Several years ago, I learned a valuable lesson about my girlfriend. She enjoys pulling pranks on April Fools’ Day. I came home from work to find her very upset and on the verge of tears. I asked what was wrong with her and she proceeds to show me a positive pregnancy test. I about have a heart attack because of the normal reasons — that being not married, thought we were safe on birth control and probably her family would kill me. She finally lets me off the hook with "April Fools." She explains (she is a pharmacist) that she had a pregnant co-worker take the test for her. I plan on marrying this women next year, maybe I'll be late for the wedding. "April Fools."

• Mike Brennan, Bluffton
  Many years ago. I worked in an office environment that was very upbeat — that is to say that it was a very loose office. Our supervisor was basically "one of the boys." Of course he was our "boss" — he ensured the office was run efficiently and he gave us our evaluations but there was never the sharp demarcation between the boss and the worker bees that exist in a lot of offices. He loved a good joke as well as anyone.

• Jennie Brousek, Bluffton
  We had a very close friend who was constantly talking about the great gas mileage from the Volkswagen Beetle he had just purchased.

• Bill Butterworth, Hilton Head Island
  This happened quite a few years ago in Marco Island, Fla. My roommate Richie Kohl (we were both in the food and beverage industry ) and I had been arguing for a few days about a lot of gossip that was going around. We had stayed up late the night before, and between Richie and I a case of beer had gone missing, but we had solved the world's problems ... and ours.

• David Butterworth, Hilton Head Island
  Before I retired, we had an office pool for the Power Ball and Mega Millions lotteries, and when the jackpot got large someone would buy 20 to 30 tickets for that particular lottery.

• Mindy Carmines, Bluffton
  We had a funny prank done on us while I was in college. A guy friend was trying to get us back so he called the newspaper and posted an ad for free goats and put our phone number in the ad. He also advertised callers to call between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. We got all sorts of crazy calls at every hour. He got us good!

• Deborah Catton, Hilton Head Island
  I don’t usually play practical jokes on people, but I did a good one on my sister about 10 years ago. It all started with a birthday gift I received from my brother. At the time, I was living in West Virginia but was working for a small college across the river in Ohio. The gift was Boyfriend in a Box, and it’s still available on the Internet!

• Scott Christensen, Hilton Head Island
  April Fools on the Ex: I don’t have your normal divorce. My Ex and I are good friends. We had two kids together and both understood that it would always be easier, and best for the kids, to get along, even through evil April Fools’ Day jokes.

• Teresa Curran, Hilton Head Island
  The year was 1967. The place was the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At the time, this was my home. Montreal is a very large and beautiful city which had been chosen for “Expo.” Millions of people from all over the world were expected, and the city had been preparing for several years. An ultra-modern subway system had been built. Also, underground shopping which would be available with beautiful stores, gourmet restaurants and all conveniences for tourists. Miles and miles of beautiful decor. The city itself had been completely spruced up. It seemed money was no object. Several months before opening date, it was announced via radio station that a moat would be built to accommodate the Queen of England’s yacht. Montreal is an island. The cost of a moat was estimated to cost 25 million. When Montrealers heard this news they were enraged. I was one of many. The phone lines to the radio station were ablaze with callers protesting. This went on all morning. The date was April 1 which officially ends April Fools’ Day at noon. Anger turned into laughter, but perhaps not for all.

• Bonnie Dove, Bluffton
  My daughter has pulled this one on me a couple of times. She put a rubber band real tight around the sprayer at the kitchen sink and aimed it so that when I turn the water on in the morning I got a good soaking. She got me two years in a row with that one!

• Jane E. Dowling, Bluffton
  During World War II, I worked for the Naval Aviation Supply Office. We catalogued spare pars for Navy aircraft. We had a printing contractor whose representative’s name was “Mr. Fox.” My supervisor was in touch frequently with the gentleman.

• Kay Dyson, Bluffton
  "Eeuuuw, Grampa!" 8-year-old Coty moaned when shown one of his little sister’s dirty diapers. "Didn't your mother ask you to take that dirty diaper out to the trash can? It's really smelly!" exclaimed Grampa, who then opened the diaper and said "It looks like poop, (sniffed it) it smells like poop, (ran his finger through it and put it on his tongue) it even tastes like poop! Here, you taste it too." With a horrid look on his face, Coty kept trying to squirm away from Grampa who was smearing something on his cheek. He finally discovered he had been smeared with peanut butter! Ever since, Coty, now almost 18, has been trying to get even with his grandfather, but he isn't even close yet.

• Andy Makarick, Bluffton
  I won the lottery. At least my wife and in-laws thought I did.

• Joan Menz, Hilton Head Island
  When our third son David was about 10 years old, the first day of April was on Sunday. Early every Sunday we combined two morning paper routes, that the two older boys had. They piled the papers on the tailgate of the station wagon, and Dad would drive them around to get their routes done before coming home to dress up, grab a bite to eat, and then drive to our 8:15 a.m. church service.

• Bob M. Olson, Lower Gwynedd, Pa.:
  A friend promised his wife a convertible if her predicted outcome of an athletic season really happened. Thankfully, for him, she was wrong and he was “off the hook.”

• Margaret E. Powers, Bluffton
  I wasn’t overly concerned when I returned to my Florida home after a flight from New York and found the house in darkness, but where was my husband of 50 years when I didn’t have a key? Neither did my neighbors who invited me in to sit and have coffee.

• John Safay, Hilton Head Island
  Many years ago, when we lived in Denver, my wife Judy and I had the Rocky Mountain News delivered and took turns reading it each morning. One year, on April 1, I put the paper back in its plastic bag after we read it and hid it in the garage. A year later, on April Fools’ Day, I took the new paper to the garage before bringing it into the house. I kept the front and second page of the new paper and replaced it with the year-old newspaper.

• Mike Silver, Bluffton
  Well-done fraternity pranks were sometimes the most clever.

• Bernice Shaheen, Hilton Head Island
  Forty years ago we had an unforgettable April Fools’ blessing!

• Phillip Shuppel, Bluffton
  As a member of the Sun City Channel 51 Team, I have access to the scrolling list of Clubs and Ads we display. I put monthly-specific backgrounds on these items, i.e., February: hearts; March: four-leaf clovers; April: rain; etc.

• Betty Smith, Hilton Head
  My daughter still hasn't forgiven me for this one!

• Candace and Joel Spiegel, Bluffton
  In March of 1983, my boyfriend Joel and I flew to New Orleans for a long weekend. We spent four glorious days touring and eating our way through this beautiful city. The morning we were to fly home Joel came to my room to collect my suitcases. He said, "Lets go out on the balcony and take one last look at the city." Once we were out on the balcony he took my hand and said, "Will you marry me?"

• Laura Webster, Charleston
  I put skunk scent on the sheriff’s (not in S.C.) riding mower engine, so that when he started it up the heat from the engine would amplify the scent and drive him crazy. It was a payback for him putting black grease under the door pull of my car. You should have seen me trying to get in the car without reacting to the awful black grease coating my fingers because I knew he was somewhere watching. We are still friends.