FREEFALLING through the air, this Scots squirrel looks as if he's base jumping.
Wildlife snapper Andy Howard got the shot as the squirrel leapt for some nuts he had tempted it with.
Andy, 45, spends his time photographing the wildlife near his home in the Cairngorms in Scotland.
He says the native red rodents can leap up to 20 feet through the pines.
READ MORE: Scottish Wildlife Trust wins support for major lottery application in fight to save red squirrels
He said: "The image was taken by positioning a log about a metre or so from a wooden platform to which the squirrels leap across.
"They are more than capable of jumping far greater distances than this. I've seen them leap more than six metres in our local forest.
"They run to the end of the log, pause for a second or two to compose themselves then launch themselves like Superman onto the table.
READ MORE: Scottish Wildlife Trust wins support for major lottery application in fight to save red squirrels
"Their reward? Organic hazelnuts, which are costing me a fortune but it's well worth it.
"Ironically this was my first attempt at photographing them performing these spectacular leaps and this image was taken on only the second jump of the morning.
"To say I'm delighted with the results is an understatement.
"They are such wonderful animals to watch they are always busy and are extremely characterful.
"They really raise your spirits.
"We have a healthy population at our squirrel feeding site and have at least six individuals visiting it on a daily basis."
Andy also offers a wildlife guiding service and runs wildlife photography workshops for those who want to hone their photography skills or just want a close encounter with some of the stunning wildlife found in the Cairngorms.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article