Geert Weggen shoots squirrels from his kitchen window, but not in the way that you’d think. When he chose the site for his house, he realized how much wildlife would be passing by its windows, and he got a brilliant idea.

“I started building a house with an open outside studio where wild animals can freely come. This studio is build 1 meter from the ground and is directly connected with my kitchen window. This is how I make compositions on an eye level, 3 meters from my window.”

He sets up tiny props and scenes, then he uses food to lure his subjects into the space. The photos he gets are remarkable, and he claims the props are practical and not photoshopped in after the fact. Also, the way he tells it, the red squirrels are entirely wild, though there is a picture at the bottom of him approaching a totally unfazed squirrel, so maybe his definition of “wild” is a bit different from mine.

Nonetheless, the photos are charming, and now I want a red squirrel for a pet!

Epilogue: After reading about his process, I walked around my house, trying to find a vantage point from which I could photograph beautiful wildlife. I finally concluded that I could get a good vantage point of the neighborhood feral cats pooping in the alley between houses. Not quite the same thing, though, is it?