--- title: Squirrel Smelling a Flower Shows Us What Love Is description: Even squirrels have to stop and smell the flowers occasionally and this viral photo captures a perfectly zen moment in nature. canonical: https://time.com/5674094/squirrel-smelling-flower/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-09-11T15:26:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:00:13.490Z og:title: If You Want to Know What Love Is, This Zen Squirrel Smelling a Flower Will Show You og:description: This squirrel looks extremely content og:url: https://time.com/5674094/squirrel-smelling-flower/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86c78a08e1d7d152/698a02ac4ee2620edd3163ad/flower.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2122 og:image:height: 1194 og:image:alt: flower.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: If You Want to Know What Love Is, This Zen Squirrel Smelling a Flower Will Show You twitter:description: This squirrel looks extremely content twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86c78a08e1d7d152/698a02ac4ee2620edd3163ad/flower.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # If You Want to Know What Love Is, This Zen Squirrel Smelling a Flower Will Show You > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Sep 11, 2019 3:26 PM UTC  Photo Taken In Thailand, Udon Thani Photo Taken In Thailand, Udon Thani Getty images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Sep 11, 2019 3:26 PM UTC The modern world can be so hectic that people occasionally need reminders written on coffee mugs and throw pillows and inspirational Instagram memes to stop and smell the flowers. While those heartfelt, encouraging words to slow down a bit and appreciate one’s life aren’t effective on humans, [squirrels](https://time.com/3676371/squirrel-appreciation-day-videos/) seem to have gotten the message. Last week, a photographer in Vienna, Austria shared an image of a [squirrel](https://time.com/3517606/a-squirrels-guide-to-fashion/) pausing to smell a flower. In the photo the squirrel is up on its hind legs, its little face pushed up into the yellow daisy with its eyes closed seemingly taking a zen-like moment of peace in its (\* ahem \*) nutty life. The very relatable photo went viral with people around the world sharing the adorable image. When Spokane, Wash., news outlet [KHQ shared the photo](https://www.khq.com/news/spokane-woman-captures-own-version-of-flower-smelling-squirrel-after/article%5Fd23aa246-d3d7-11e9-9add-6f297523f350.html) on their Facebook page, friends of a local photographer decided the image looked a little familiar and tagged Tina Penny in the post, asking her to share her own flower-sniffing squirrel photo. Penny obliged and [shared her picture](https://www.facebook.com/KHQLocalNews/posts/2784848448213327?%5F%5Fxts%5F%5F[0]=68.ARDnEOtk6pXJ%5FjMx0S2SjHzn2JVygbZuS%5FV7j5%5F9Xlec8nYTaLgLnOKJ9gBWX0VnMimVe%5FG6vI42vZNvZjf11eKhJ-z7FA-dMkopZqlFMJ4NEuDjkNU5l7thkZfuiL6x2tc%5FcigWJGqFZiBN0Z7REYHa1wJc2v5EYUJaYvKq%5FIbeSj5wivd4iv1lHERtsYNyJgrdrY4w8g5Nz-9at58kMMk5ksEuywTfDJTNNtnJVaF3H21Ivlg-mej4ajP76N6yC2XnbuNRk5xPJzq%5FzkNy09grweiNQieKjRLkwC%5FSFtQ2RV6Z4sdpUZDe4YnwivZU1Z9zoEs2iHk1udU29BplkXKLKQ&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=-R) of an equally zen-like squirrel sniffing a flower at Glacier National Park. Hopefully more photos of [squirrels](https://time.com/5493311/egg-roll-squirrel/) stopping to smell the flowers will pop up across the internet and eventually humans will take the hint. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5674094/squirrel-smelling-flower/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5674094/squirrel-smelling-flower/"},"headline":"If You Want to Know What Love Is, This Zen Squirrel Smelling a Flower Will Show You","datePublished":"2019-09-11T15:26:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:00:13.490Z","description":"Even squirrels have to stop and smell the flowers occasionally","url":"https://time.com/5674094/squirrel-smelling-flower/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86c78a08e1d7d152/698a02ac4ee2620edd3163ad/flower.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86c78a08e1d7d152/698a02ac4ee2620edd3163ad/flower.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"flower.jpg","caption":"Yellow Flowers","creditText":"Getty images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5674094/squirrel-smelling-flower/","name":"If You Want to Know What Love Is, This Zen Squirrel Smelling a Flower Will Show You"}}]}] ```