Although yesterday was Squirrel Appreciation Day, I couldn’t resist ending the week with this swell squirrel photo sent by Antti Rönkä. He sent some information, too:
I have attached a photo of a European Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) that stuck itself into a bird feeder. The photo was taken recently in Oulu, northern Finland, at our backyard.
And reader Taskin pointed me to “Break’s” Facebook video of a squirrel grabbing a camera and running off with it (click on the screenshot to see it). It’s a truly stupendous piece of video, showing you things from a squirrel’s eye view; and it’s funny as hell.
This is great on several levels. You get to see his little legs going like mad, he goes up a tree and films other squirrels, you can see the camera guy trying to figure out how he can get it back, there are bells ringing in the background, it’s Squirrel Appreciation Boxing Day!
Question, when it was running over snow, how did it manage the several switches between different viewpoints/camera angles?
There’s something fishy about this. How did the point of view of the camera change instantaneously? And then he caught the squirrel by hand at the end? I’d like to know what went on.
I don’t think he caught the squirrel by hand; I think the camera dropped. I agree that the changing viewpoint is a bit weird, but then I don’t know how the guy could have made this if it were a complete fake!
Probably worthless footage was edited out by the cam owner?
Looks like the frames between put-down and pick-up have been chopped.
I love the claws around the edges of the frame – I suspect plenty of tooth marks on the casing of the camera.
Is obviously spy camera. Where is moose? Boris we see at end but where is Natasha?
Could the changing POV be explained by the camera toggling between a selfie mode and normal mode as a result of slight shifts in the squirrel’s grip? That would be possible if it was shot on a smart phone I think – maybe someone here knows if that is also a possibility with other types of camera.
I don’t think the film looks faked.
Yes I wondered if it was a phone (rather than a proper camera). The phone would be easier for a squirrel to grip, also likely to have wide-angle lens(es) (and I don’t think any camera as such has a ‘selfie’ lens, why would it?)
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