This “crasher squirrel” (or “gate-crashing” squirrel) has now become a legend, an internet celebrity, a PHENOM! I have came across tons of pictures where this crasher squirrel will pop-out from nowhere and get clicked (of course those pics are not real, they have been photoshopped).

The photograph was taken by Melissa Brandts and her husband Jackson while visiting Lake Minnewanka at the Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada in May 2009. While the couple were posing on some rocks next to the lake using a camera with a wireless remote shutter release to take shots of themselves, a Columbian Ground Squirrel began exploring the area. Intrigued by the sound of the camera’s mechanism, the squirrel stood up right in front of the lens, and the Brandts were able to capture the image of the squirrel, clearly in focus, in front of the camera.

In August 2009 , the Brandts submitted the photo to the National Geographic weekly “Your Shot” contest in a bid to have the image included in an upcoming issue. Now, the picture being featured in the November edition of National Geographic magazine.

From the National Geographic website:

“My husband and I were exploring Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park-Canada when we stopped for a timed picture of the two of us. We had our camera set up on some rocks and were getting ready to take the picture when this curious little ground squirrel appeared, became intriqued with the sound of the focusing camera and popped right into our shot! A once in a lifetime moment! We were laughing about this little guy for days!!”

This squirrel stars in many YouTube videos, check out the below:

The famous Photobomber Squirrel of Banff National Park now on film, doing his photobomb routine throughout the Park. The Crasher Squirrel in the famous picture has been showing up all around the Park. He’s nuts in front of the camera. The Banff Crasher Squirrel has appeared on TV and in newspapers around the world, including CBC and CNN and the Banff Crasher Squirrel has sparked a wave of photoshop photos and avatars making Banff Crasher Squirrel the latest internet celebrity.

He even has a Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crasher_Squirrel

Check out few of his photos below from (http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/photo-crasher):

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