A hilarious photo of a squirrel stuck in a tree has claimed the top prize at Nikon’s Comedy Wildlife Awards 2024. 

The contest, which has been dubbed he ‘funniest and most popular photography competition in the world’, reached its conclusion last night. 

Over 9,000 images were entered this year, with judges whittling these down to a shortlist of just 45 snaps. 

However, it was Milko Marchetti who was announced as the overall winner of this year’s competition for his photo, entitled ‘Stuck Squirrel’. 

The hilarous photo shows a red squirrrel entering a tree, with its legs at right angles to the trunk. 

‘I have taken many, many photographs of squirrels, in many situations over the years in Italy,’ Mr Marchetti explained.

‘But this one struck me as really funny and such a strange position, because it is that exact moment when the squirrel is detaching its back legs from the trunk to enter its hide.

‘Whenever I show this image at the nature seminars at my local photography club, the audience always explode with raucous laughter, so I had to enter it!’

A hilarious photo of a squirrel stuck in a tree has claimed the top prize at Nikon’s Comedy Wildlife Awards 2024

The contest, which has been dubbed he ‘funniest and most popular photography competition in the world’, reached its conclusion last night

In the Insects category, Jose Miguel Gallego Molina won for his image, titled ‘Mantis Flamenca’, while Eberhard Ehmke won the Reptiles and Amphibian Award for his image, ‘Frog in a balloon’

The judges explained that Mr Marchetti’s image really reflects the ‘enchanting’ aspect of nature. 

Stefan Maier, Senior General Manager of Marketing at Nikon Europe, said: ‘We are thrilled to celebrate Milko Marchetti’s outstanding achievement in the Nikon Comedy Photography Awards 2024. 

‘His image, “Stuck Squirrel,” brilliantly captures the playful and unpredictable moments that make nature so enchanting. 

‘This year’s competition received a record number of entries, each one a testament to the power of photography in evoking emotion. 

‘We look forward to continuing to inspire the next generation of wildlife photographers through these wonderful awards.’

As the winner, Mr Marchetti bags a ‘once in a lifetime’ safari in the Masai Mara, plus a handmade trophy and a photography bag. 

Aside from Mr Marchetti, Nikon crowned nine other Category Winners, 10 Highly Commended Winners, and a Young Photographer Award. 

In the Insects category, Jose Miguel Gallego Molina won for his image, titled ‘Mantis Flamenca’, while Eberhard Ehmke won the Reptiles and Amphibian Award for his image, ‘Frog in a balloon’. 

Damyan Petkov’s image, ‘Whiskered Tern crash on landing’ was crowned the winner of the Birds category

A hilarious photo of a fish appearing to hunt a bald eagle won the Fish and Other Aquatic Species Award

In the Under-16 category, Sarthakk Ranganadhan won for their picture of ‘smooching owlets’

‘During a photo shoot at the pond I discovered this frog with its head in a bubble. This resembles a tree bell,’ Mr Ehmke explained. 

Damyan Petkov’s image, ‘Whiskered Tern crash on landing’ was crowned the winner of the Birds category, while a hilarious photo of a fish appearing to hunt a bald eagle won the Fish and Other Aquatic Species Award.

In the Under-16 category, Sarthakk Ranganadhan won for their picture of ‘smooching owlets’.  

‘Our parents always find a way to embarrass us, I guess that’s also true in the case of spotted owlets,’ they said. 

‘It was truly a funny sight to see two owlets trying to get some privacy as their little offspring stood next to them with a grin shut eyes.’

Meanwhile, Kingston Tam won the Under-25 category for his image titled ‘Awkward smiley frog’. 

The People’s Choice Award went to Tapani Linnanmaki for their picture, ‘Shake ruffle rattle and roll’. 

‘In the picture, a white-tailed eagle is ruffling its feathers. The picture was taken with the Nikon Z9’s autocapture feature,’ they explained. 

Kingston Tam won the Under-25 category for his image titled ‘Awkward smiley frog’

The People’s Choice Award went to Tapani Linnanmaki for their picture, ‘Shake ruffle rattle and roll’

Sanjay Patil was highly commended for his picture of a fan-throated lizard, titled ‘The Rock Star’

‘The camera is placed on top of the sea ice on top of a bag of nuts at the level of the ice.

‘I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this picture. There were more than ten funny poses and expressions in the photo series.’

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Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb won the Amazing Internet Portfolio Award for their series of images showing a squirrel plaing with a stick. 

Finally, Kevin Lohman won the Video Category Award for his video of a fox with the ‘zoomies’. 

‘A Red Fox on a cold morning couldn’t get enough of having fun rolling around on frosty grass,’ he said. 

‘I had been watching this fox walking slowly across the grass when it suddenly got the zoomies like my dog does after its bath. 

‘It started rolling around on the ice-covered grass, then sliding, then shaking it off like nothing happened.’