A spray-painted squirrel? Nope, this colorful critter is real — and loved on Twitter

Online photos of an enormous, multi-colored squirrel from a forest in India have entranced people around the world, The Independent reports.

Amateur photographer Kaushik Vijayan captured the photos of a Malabar giant squirrel in a forest in the Pathanamthitta District, according to the publication.

The rodents can grow to be up to 3 feet long, including their long tails, and jump more than 20 feet, The Dodo reported. Their fur can be orange, maroon and purple. The shy creatures live mostly in the forest canopy in eastern and southern India.

Their colorful fur actually serves a useful purpose, said John Koprowski, professor and associate director at the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona, The Dodo reported.

“In the shaded understory of a dense forest, the patchy colors and dark hues are a great adaptation to avoiding detection,” Koprowski said, according to the publication.

The colorful squirrels immediately won plenty of online admirers.

“It was when I shared some of the photographs on social media many of my friends and followers came to know about the Malabar giant squirrel and they were all amazed by its appearance,” Vijayan said, The Independent reported. “Up until that point I had never heard about a squirrel like that or seen one.”

“Can we splice giant Malabar squirrel genes into humans, so I can stop paying to turn my hair these colors?” asked author Seanan McGuire on Twitter.

“How have I never heard of these beautiful creatures before?” asked another admirer on Twitter.

“This is so neat,” wrote another fan on Twitter.

This story was originally published April 3, 2019 at 7:53 AM.