A squirrel cheerfully poses with a perfectly formed snowball, while another ensures that the moment is documented… by taking a photograph. The red squirrels were delighted to play model and photographer until the one behind the camera grew bored and requested a turn posing.
The squirrels’ joyous interaction is picture-perfect, with gentle snow falling as they play with their new toys.
Vadim Trunov, 30, photographed the pair in the bushes near their house in Voronezh, Russia.
‘I photographed the photographs in the woods near town since the squirrels are not afraid of people because they live so close to us,’ he stated.
‘I offered them nuts, which they joyfully took and hid in the snow; they kept grabbing nuts from me and then hiding them,’ says the author.
‘Squirrels like to hide nuts and then discover them when they’re hungry so they can eat.’
‘I built a snowball with a nut inside and threw it on the ground,’ she says.
‘A squirrel ran up and grabbed the snowball, carrying it away.’ Perhaps she sensed the nut within.
‘Then it happened again with the second snowball I made, so I tried a sequence of photographs that included a squirrel photographing another squirrel carrying the snowball.’
Mr Trunov, who was only four metres away, set up a tripod and prepared another snowball with nuts inside for the squirrels in order to shoot the wonderful snowy scene.
‘A squirrel raced up to the camera and began smelling it almost immediately,’ he continued.
‘A second squirrel took a snowball and raised it up, probably to check for a nut within.
‘She dropped it and picked it back up, as if posing for the camera.’
‘The first squirrel then stepped atop the camera, grabbed for its mate, and took her snowball,’ says the caption.
‘That was a beautiful moment, and I created around ten snowballs to capture it with the two squirrels at the same time.’
‘Squirrels are really entertaining and curious animals, and I was thrilled to picture this situation,’ the photographer said.
