This is the moment a squirrel in an Aberdeenshire woodland realised it was being filmed on candid camera and chose to destroy the evidence.
North-east wildlife watcher Paul Nicol had set up a hidden camera last week at a feeding table in Carnie Woods in Westhill, an area famous for its resident population of reds.
But it appears that once the creature had his fill it became tired of Mr Nicol’s trailcam and dashed it to the forest floor before scurrying away.
Red Squirrels have become increasingly endangered across the UK, and Scotland is one of the last strongholds for the species.
The national wildlife conservation project Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrel’s aims to track healthy populations of the animals in order to better protect their hopes of survival.