Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

By Mark McConville

 

BIZARRE images seem to have captured wild red squirrels using a tiny saw to cut up sticks for their wood-burning stove.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

The surreal pictures show the squirrels hard at work cutting the stick into tiny logs before wheeling them from their pile over to the stove.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

Other weird photographs show the industrious squirrels using a miniature axe to chop the wood into smaller pieces.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

The humorous snaps were taken in Bispgården, Sweden by local artist and photographer Geert Weggen (48), using tiny props and placing food just out of shot to attract the squirrels.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

“In the north of Sweden cutting wood is a yearly activity,” said Geert.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

“Many households still use firewood to heat their houses next to electric. Many times, I photograph individual shots, but these last couple of months I started to make short stories, like this one from cutting the wood until the stove.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

“On many tools, I glued a small peanut, like on the axe and the wood. With the saw, I drilled a small hole and drilled a hole in the nut and coupled it together.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

“I sometimes hang food in small buckets in the air. When the squirrels come to me they are looking for food in the scenes I set up.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

“In this case I had only one change for a shot. When the nut was taken I had to glue another one.”

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

Geert, who took the photographs using a Nikon D810, insists the images are real and have not been photoshopped in any way.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

He creates these scenes as he feels a connection with the animals and wants to make the impossible possible.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

“It is a kind of fantasy and magic. I create worlds of imagination,” he said.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

“Impossible things become possible. It is easy to identify with these beautiful animals.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

“I show my love and connection with these animals via my photos and these kind of photos when connected is possible with all different kinds of animals

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

“Squirrels love to take the props to the forest with the nut glued to it. I had to make more axes, because they disappear easy.”

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

Most people enjoy Geert’s work, according the man himself, but he still has some problems convincing people a live squirrel could do what they do in his images.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

“Most people get happy or have a smile when they see my photos,” he added.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

Some people still cannot believe that these are photos. Still there are people who think that a photo of a squirrel is only beautiful when it is shot in the forest or place where they live.

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com

 

“There are different ways to look at my photos: with the heart, mind, feeling, soul etc. All these different ways of looking makes how people see my work. There is no right or wrong way.  It often touches my heart.”

Geert Weggen / mediadrumworld.com