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Forest spirit

One of the greatest rewards of working with wild creature is when you can spend the time breaking down the barriers of fear between yourself and the normally elusive and shy animals. Simon King cashes in on someone else’s hard work, to rub shoulders with one of the wild spirits of the forest: the red squirrel. Scotland is the last stronghold of these little creatures, and although it isn't used to Simon, it soon begins to trust him, taking food from his hand. There are simple techniques to use with any animal to build trust, one of the most key is to avoid eye contact, many animals will assume that a staring human face is dangerous for obvious reason, so by looking away, and looking occasionally with a sideways glance, will give the animal you are trying to habituate that little bit more confidence.

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3 minutes

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