Leap of faith: The squirrel jumps for the bird feeder in a desperate lunge for dinnerHe's a common or garden grey squirrel - but this cheeky little rodent is doing his best to impersonate the flying variety in a bid to eat bird food.
The pictures, captured in the garden of bird-loving Jane Roberts, show that all her efforts to protect the seeds for more timid beasts are constantly in vain.
To prevent the squirrels eating the food, Jane rigged up two feeders that should have only been accessed by the air.
Jackpot: The squirrel lands on the bird feeder and prepares to grab the spoils of his endeavours But persistence and sheer agility are paying off for her unwanted garden visitors, costing her more than £35-a-month in sunflower seeds.
She said: 'They beat me whatever I do.'
Though a favourite sight in some gardens, grey squirrels can become a nuisance and there are even pest control firms dedicated to their humane destruction.
Last year in Scotland a cull of grey squirrels took place in order to allow their more docile and much rarer red cousins to re-gain a foothold in the area.
Grey squirrels were originally brought to the UK from the U.S. by landowners in the 1870s.
They quickly began usurping the territories of the indigenous red varieties.
There are now thought to be just 160,000 red squirrels in the UK compared with more than 3.3m greys.
The Isle of Wight remains the only sanctuary for reds in southern England, and conversationsts have a shoot on sight policy in a bid to keep the area free from 'alien' species.
source: dailymail
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