European ground squirrel (© Gerard Kummer/500px)

【February 2 2016】Never hire a European ground squirrel to do a groundhog’s job. This increasingly rare denizen of eastern Europe may’ve been photographed while making a hasty retreat into its burrow below the grass. The ground squirrel lives with many others of its kind in colonies, digging tunnels to provide numerous entry and exit points that come in handy when predators are near. And it isn’t just its ineptitude at weather forecasting that makes the European ground squirrel an unlikely challenger to the groundhog on Feb 2. This time of year, the squirrel is still enjoying a long winter’s nap—it tends to hibernate through the winter, usually waiting to emerge in March.Explore breathtaking Gallery from the HuluTrip homepage over the past 5 years..