An unexpected photo of an Edmonton couple, and a furry photobomber, is making the rounds on social media.
Kelin Flanagan and her fiancé Spencer Taubner were hiking to Lake Helen in Banff National Park for their engagement photos Saturday morning when a storm began to approach.
“You could see the clouds everywhere,” Kelin said. “We ended up stopping and turning back about a kilometre from the lake itself.”
That’s when the couple and their photographers, Marcin and Dorota Karpowicz, found a lookout with ground squirrels scurrying around and decided to stop for some photos.
The photographers told the couple to keep still for a few moments.
“We [were] just waiting for the nice moment,” Marcin explained. “Somebody left nuts over there so we [were] just waiting until the squirrel picked up the nuts.”
As they were taking pictures, squirrels kept coming closer to the couple.
“I think Marcin and Dorota were hoping we could get something in the shot, but we had no idea we were going to end up with one of them stuffing his face right in front of the camera,” Flanagan said.
The photo quickly started making the rounds on social media, and the couple’s mothers didn’t believe it was real at first.
“Both of them thought it was photoshopped. They did not believe that that’s something that actually happened,” Flanagan said.
The outdoorsy couple is planning to make their photo with little guy part of their big day next month: “I expect we’ll try and find some ways to incorporate it everywhere.”
It was a lucky shot for Kelin and Spencer, but Parks Canada is reminding visitors to not feed the wildlife.
With files from Shanelle Kaul
