Squirrels' Tree Threesome Leaves Mongoose Photographer Stunned

A photographer on safari in South Africa was left stunned when he noticed three squirrels engaged in a tree threesome; luckily for us, he wasn't too stunned to capture the all-important snap.

Max Waugh, from Seattle, USA, was photographing a family of mongooses (mongeese?) when he was caught off guard by the romping rodents.

Like any photographer worth their salt, Max wasted no time in snapping away at the squirrel sex string that Mother Nature had presented him with.

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The 44-year-old said it was a total surprise - though it would be pretty weird if it wasn't, wouldn't it?

He said: "It was completely unexpected, and obviously appeals to one's more juvenile sense of humour.

"More seriously, I am always excited to capture rare and unexpected animal behaviour.

"This certainly qualifies. I believe the only time I've witnessed something similar in the animal kingdom involved multiple male sea turtles trying to attach themselves to a female in the Galapagos Islands."

Having taken a close look at the ménage à trois, Max offered up a bit of bonk train analysis.

He said: "Based on the order (from left to right), my best guess is female-male-male, but there's no guarantee of that.

"If, for instance, this has more to do with dominance display than simple mating attempts, it's conceivable this could be a group of three males.

"I'd guess that we are seeing two males vying for a female's attention during the breeding period, and most likely one male arrived a bit too late.

"Or perhaps he is trying to exert dominant behaviour to encourage his rival to move on."

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Wow, grim hypothesis that isn't it? Suppose that squirrel is a firm believer in the adage 'better late then never'.

As for whether any broader insights can be gleaned from this bushy-tailed rumpy-pumpy, Max reckons other photographers can learn from his example.

He said: "Always be willing to photograph more than just the most notable or popular subjects.

"In this case, we were there to photograph little mongooses rather than elephants, lions, or leopards... and ultimately ended up with a trip highlight thanks to squirrels, which no one would have predicted prior to the trip."

One for the grandkids, for sure.

Topics: Funny, Community, Animals

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey