WITH a paw in the air and his tongue hanging from his mouth, it is clear to see that this little groundhog is struggling to wake up and leave behind the comfort of his burrow. The groundhog takes a moment to stretch before quickly becoming aware that he's not alone. The adorable scene was captured in the Tonale Pass, a high mountain pass in Trentino Alto Adige, Italy, by freelance photographer Maurizio Lancini. The 39-year-old, of Rodengo Saiano, Brescia, Italy, says:"I spotted the entrance to the burrow so decided to hide nearby and wait for the groundhog to appear.
A BUMPER season of births has left zoo with three of the cutest exotic kittens you're likely to see .
PRANKSTER Dom Joly was so livid when he was slapped with a parking ticket that he took to Twitter to vent his anger – only to discover he was the victim of his own gag! The comic got a taste of his own medicine when he was tricked by a fellow joker for the first time in a decade .
An Italian photographer travelled to Chile where he visited several star-gazing sites, home to some of the world's most advanced telescopes, located in the spectacular setting of the Atacama desert .
An Italian photographer travelled to the highlands of New Guinea where he met an Indonesian tribe untouched by the modern world .
A BAMBI was dramatically caught in mid-air by a greedy Nile crocodile in a once-in-a-million flying pincer move .
A lazy otter finds the ideal spot to soak up the sun and sleep off his lunch .
FROM the rolling hills of the Scottish highlands to looming chalk cliffs in Sussex, these stunning photographs capture the spectacular beauty of Great Britain .
Sitting all alone on drift ice in the Arctic Ocean, this lonely little fella looks lost .
THE THOUGHT OF BECOMING shipwrecked on a remote destination would fill most holidaymakers with dread .
A GLOWING range of greens and blues sweep across the sky in a spectacular display of light .
AT first glance these images could easily be mistaken for photographs, but they are in-fact real life drawings created using nothing but coloured pencils .