The chubby critter piled on the pounds thanks to overfeeding from tourists.

The animal was snapped by Marina van der Linden, 46, during a trip to the Morro Rock State Preserve in western California.

She said: "Suddenly I saw a family of squirrels. It was hilarious because they were all quite big, but there was one that was enormous.

"I concentrated on it since it was the fattest of them all but it kept hiding between the rocks.

"When it finally sat still out in the open for a brief period, I discovered that I was too close and I could not fit the entire squirrel in the camera's viewfinder.

"It was so big that I had to walk backwards in order to get the whole of her in frame.

Marina added: "The next day I went to photograph her again but not a single squirrel was to be seen.

"Then I saw one with the same pattern on her head but she ran off before she could be photographed.

"I think she was self-conscious about her weight."

相關(guān)新聞中文報(bào)道：

（中新網(wǎng)6月10日電）據(jù)外媒報(bào)道，在美國(guó)加利福尼亞州水杉國(guó)家公園的摩洛巖石(Moro Rock) 保護(hù)區(qū)內(nèi)，一只灰松鼠全然不顧形象，對(duì)游人不停喂食的堅(jiān)果照單全收，結(jié)果體型如吹氣球般漲大，足足有正常的兩倍。

一名軟件工程師拍攝的正面照片顯示，這只小動(dòng)物完全變成了一個(gè)敦實(shí)的毛球，只有小小的腦袋和四肢還能顯示出它是一只松鼠。

拍照者稱，這只松鼠是她當(dāng)時(shí)看到的松鼠一家中最肥的，等到它停下來(lái)，離得足夠近可以拍了，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)它肥得連取景框都裝不下了。這名游客只好后退，才把它全部拍下來(lái)：“最后它終于直視我了，我趕緊抓住機(jī)會(huì)按下快門?！?/p>