Thanks to the animated blockbuster franchise Ice Age, a squirrel's ability to fight tirelessly for nuts is something we have become quite aware of. However, people were able to get a glimpse of what it actually looks like in real life when the common-yet-uncommon face-off between a red squirrel and a woodpecker squaring up to each other was captured by Karen Crawford.
The mum-of-three had traveled to woodland near Johnsfield, Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway from her home in South Ayrshire, Scotland, to photograph red squirrels. Although Crawford had set some nuts for the squirrels, a great spotted woodpecker got to the loot first and began fighting with the squirrel that tried to approach the stump.
An Uninvited Invader
Remembering the peculiar encounter between the two animals, the 59-year-old recounted, "The squirrels are normally waiting for you to put nuts out for them, but the woodpecker arrived first and had to protect its territory."
"The woodpecker was on one side of the stump feeding on the nuts and as soon as it saw the squirrel it became aggressive towards it," the South Ayrshire resident was quoted as saying by The Westmorland Gazette.
Show Down Over Nuts
Describing the epic face-off, Crawford, expressed, "The squirrel didn't back off at first but eventually it knew it had too because it wasn't going to get anything. I have never seen anything like it before," she said. "The squirrel had its paw raised and the bird had its beak wide open, it was like they were going to have a fight," she added further.
Crawford did not realize immediately how unique and funny the pictures were until she returned home. She narrated how she felt upon realizing its hilarity: "I thought 'wow' when I got home and saw the picture and the reaction I have had to it has been really strong." She added, "I normally take landscape pictures but in terms of nature pictures this is one of the best I have ever done."
