What a sighting! Local photographer and Zebbug councillor Steve Zammit Lupi had quite the encounter this weekend as he was out and about exploring nature. A Maltese weasel, better known as a ballottra, popped out to say hello – or possibly ‘bugger off from my territory!’ Either way, Steve managed to get an absolutely awesome shot of the little dude (or dudette).

“When I was a kid I would encounter the ballotra everyday on the 1c Maltese Lira coin. Today, in our country’s natural environment the ballottra is rare and shy. Today I was lucky,” he said on his Facebook page, sharing that a curious one popped out of hiding to say hello.

A lucky encounter, indeed!