Nutty look of punk squirrel

With a dishevelled mohawk it's more like Wolverhampton Calling than London Calling for the tail-banging squirrel.

He caught the eye of a cameraman by taking him back to his younger days.

Carlton Campbell, who lives near West Park, regularly spends his days taking in the nature and wildlife in his own backyard and something about this punk squirrel forced him to take a snap.

Mr Campbell said: "He just looked so dishevelled and his hair reminded me of the mohawk style that punks used to have.

"Coming up through the 70s I saw a lot of people with that haircut and it caught my eye seeing it again.

"I was never a punk but straight away I recognised that this squirrel had the look of one." Mr Campbell, aged 60, has been a keen photographer for many years and takes pictures whenever he visits a park or a field where nature can be found.

He said: "I have been taking photos since I was 19, except for taking a short break when everything went digital.

"These days I use my Canon 450, which is what I took this photo with.

"I regularly go to West Park and catch the animals getting up to all sorts.

"Squirrels are the biggest posers, they want you to give them some nuts so they come up to you, posing and hanging round.

"Then you get the hedgehogs who also want feeding and sometimes that ends in a squabble, but that is nature.

"I also like to go up Cannock Chase to shoot and if I go away for a camping weekend I always take my camera." Mr Campbell, who works as a jeweller when he isn't taking photographs, believes he has found his inspiration in nature and animals.

He said: "Animals are much more fun, unpredictable and interesting than photographing a wedding for example.

"You get so much as a photographer by snapping animals, a picture can say so much and when you get a good shot of an animal like this squirrel, you can go away and make up a personality for them or a little back story."

West Park is considered to be one of the best examples of a Victorian park left in England. In 1986 the park was put on the English Heritage National Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.