Blue metal posts, about 2 feet tall, with locks placed all around this open park near the waterfront in Toronto, ON, Canada.
A: They are water test bores. When the padlock is removed the top tilts back to open. Inside is a 50mm / 2″ pipe down into the water table. They are used to test the height of the water table and can be used to withdraw water samples for testing. Multiple test bores are often placed in locations where there has been a pollution leak that needs to be tracked long term. Leaks can be from something like an underground fuel tank or a chemical factory or similar.
After that you put a sugar cone on the feuerzange and pour something like Stroh 80, a drink with 80% alcohol over it and light it up. Keep pouring the alcohol over the cone while it melts down in the whine. You now have a warm, sweet and strong drink for a nice winter evening. You should watch the movie Feuerzangenbowle while you do all this.
"may be more zebra than horse"
What do you suppose you mean by that?
I think the expression is "If you hear hooves/find hoofprints, it's probably a horse and not a zebra" – similar to Occam's razor: The most probable explanation for something is usually the correct one.
In this case, the less probable explanation appears to be correct, therefore it's "rather a zebra than a horse".
sorry – "the simple explanation", not the most probable one.