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.
Giancarlo pictured at home during his recovery, wearing his compression garments - A mother-of-three has revealed how her 10-month-old son was severely burnt at nursery .
A terrified moose, trapped in a frozen lake, bobs her head above the icey water and awaits her rescue .
A grey whale and her calf greet an audience of awestruck admirers on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico .
HOTSPOT MEDIA - BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH AR' KID: A POSTAL SORTER has perfected the art of time travel by delivering images that are from the past .
A kingfisher’s bright blue and orange feathers glisten in the sunlight as the bird dives into a lake .
Is your cat bored? Do his usual playthings simply not do it for him anymore? Not to worry - there's an app for that .
The lighthouses of Brittany, from Brest to Le Conquet, stand tall on France’s north-western coast against stunning scenery .
THIS alien-like bug would look more at home in outer-space but it can actually be found wriggling around here on Earth .
A diver looks like a minnow as she swims alongside a gigantic whale shark, the largest species of fish on the planet .
A lazy tree frog, tired of hopping along a branch, chooses the slowest form of transport when it jumps on top of an unsuspecting snail .
With a dust covered coat hung from a wardrobe door and a pair of glasses left on a shelf, a remote farmhouse lies abandoned in the Welsh countryside .
A disabled sheep is enjoying a new fleece of life after receiving a specially-designed wheelchair .