In the incredible series of snaps, the red squirrel clambers over a tripod-mounted camera to tinker with the controls.

Once everything is just right, the adorable creature jumps onto a tree stump and strikes a pose in front of the lens for a cheesy self-portrait.

Keen wildlife photographer Dennis Greenwood, 50, captured the amazing shots while his friends were setting up their own equipment.He took the pictures in a garden near Hawes, North Yorks., after he was tipped off about the cheeky visitor.Dennis, a school site manager from Shawforth, Lancs., headed out with a pair of photographer friends to catch the animal on camera.

But while his mates unloaded their lenses from their car, the squirrel beat them to it as he tried to take his own portrait.

Dennis said: “We were just setting up for the day and one friend had put his camera on top of his tripod.


“The pair of them had gone back to the car to get some more equipment when this squirrel appeared and was running about on the camera.

“They were just stood there laughing but I thought ‘I should start getting some pictures of this’.


“It was just so natural, the way it was moving about.

“My friends have got some really expensive equipment but I was only using a couple of smaller lenses to get these.

“All they could do is point and laugh.


“It’s a once in a lifetime shot – you could never set something like this up even if you tried.

“For it to just happen like that is amazing.”

Red squirrels have become an increasingly rare sight in the British Isles, where their population once stood at 3.5 million.

Since the introduction of the grey squirrel, some estimates put the UK population at 120,000, with the number of reds in England thought to be as low as 15,000.
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