I'M READY FOR MY CLOSE UP NOW, MR NUTKIN
Red squirrels are well known for their intelligence and curiosity but when one snapper caught this furry little guy trying to take his own self-portrait he couldn't help but be taken aback. Professional wildlife photographer Simon Philpotts had only turned his back for a moment during a session spent snapping a new colony of red squirrels near his home in Wensleydale, North Yorks. But as he headed into a nearby hide to set up some equipment, he spotted one furry-tailed photographer commandeering his camera. After climbing up the tripod and sniffing about the rig, Simon captured the sneaky scamp seemingly attempting to take a picture of himself - placing his foot on the shutter release and sticking his nose into the lens. Simon, 38, said: "We are getting a lot of squirrels at the moment and they are very curious. This little one decided to climb up my tripod and basically try and take my camera apart. At one point it looked like he was trying to take a self portrait.
Other great stories
DAZZLING BEAUTY OF THE MILKY WAY ABOVE UK AND ITALY
A photographer has captured stunning photographs of the Milky Way above picturesque landscapes in the UK and Italy .
WOMAN SHEDS 15ST AFTER BEATING CHEESE ADDICTION
A woman has lost a massive 15st after beating her addiction to cheese .
THEY'RE BEHIND YOU!
SURROUNDED by tens of thousands of fish, this outnumbered diver is dwarfed by a mass of sea life .
SNEAKY OTTER
A young otter wades through a lake with his eyes set on an older rival’s fish .
THE INCREDIBLE BEAUTY OF ICELAND’S ICE CAVES
A stunning ice cave in Iceland is illuminated by sunlight as the bright blue ice appears glow inside .
ABANDONED PLAZA HOTEL
The beds are consumed by moss instead of customers at this abandoned hotel .
HUNDREDS OF HOT AIR BALLOONS DECORATE TURKISH SKY
HUNDREDS of hot air balloons decorate the sky above Turkey as the rising sun illuminates the spectacular scenery below .
FROZEN WATERFALLS
COURAGEOUS CLIMBERS scale frozen waterfalls in Canada, as the ice threatens to collapse beneath them .
THE F-ANT-ASTIC ARTISTS
Exibiting their superhuman strength these ants look ready to create an art attack by lifting pencils several thousand times their own weight .
EUROSTAR-BUCKS
THIS ONE of a kind experience brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'a coffee to go' .
INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF INDIANS
An Italian photographer travelled to northern India where he visited poverty stricken suburbs and captured ordinary people in a series of intimate and expressive portraits .
BEAR CUBS AND DOTING MUM
A little brown bear cub shows his doting mum that she is always on parent duty as he uses her as a scratching post .