They're notoriously shy, but a photographer had these woodland squirrels eating almost from the palm of his hand after he set up a 'studio' in his icy back garden.

 Geert Weggen equipped his home in the Swedish village of Bispgarden with camera equipment, lighting and wintery backdrops, including plinths covered in ice, red berries and pine cones.

The Dutch-born 46-year-old, who works as a carpenter, then enticed the animals using seeds and nuts - resulting in these spectacular images.

'Animals will do almost anything for food and every animal will get used to a human in time,' he said. 'They will come very close or even touch me as long as I respect their boundaries.

'For me animals are honest. I love that. They surprise me and make me laugh. I use mostly sunflower seeds and peanuts to entice the squirrels, and I feed them walnuts or hazelnuts to reward them.'


Red squirrels do not face the same threat in most parts of Europe as they do in Britain, where American greys were introduced in the 1870s and now vastly outnumber their red counterparts - largely thanks to carrying a pox which is deadly to their bushier cousins.
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