When an amateur photographer ventured into the woods the last thing he expected to discover was a houseful of neighbours he had never met.

But that’s exactly what happened when Kai Fagerström from Salo, Finland, stumbled upon what he thought was an empty house, only to find it was occupied with wild, woodland animals.

Mr Fagerström was visiting his family’s summer house in rural Suomusjärvi, Finland, when he came across a series of derelict houses near his own. After taking a peek through one of the broken windows,he noticed tiny tracks across the dust scattered wooden floorboards.

The amateur photographer was able to take pictures of the timid animals after he stumbled upon their dwelling while taking a walk

The house in rural Suomusjärvi, Finland, is the perfect shelter for the animals who have left tracks all over its dust scattered floors

The 48-year-old quickly realised that mice, badgers and foxes were among the many woodland creatures that had made themselves at home in the empty dwellings.

Mr Fagersttöm,who manages properties for a parish in Salo said: ‘When I go into these houses, it’s like stepping back in time—the past lingers in the corners’.

He told National Geographic: ‘There’s consolidation in the idea that nature is reclaiming the places it has lent to people’.

Welcome: A tiny field vole is observed by a puppy on the outside who perhaps wants to join in the fun

Home is where the heart is: The various animals seem to be getting along well living together in the empty house which has been derelict for some time

A pair of badgers realise they're being watched by Mr Fagerström's camera lens. The aspiring photographer was glad to see the house being returned to nature

Room mates: Squirrel look content in their surroundings in this candid moment captured by my Fagerström who said visiting the houses is like stepping back in time

After taking a peek through one of the broken windows Kai Fagerström noticed tiny tracks across the dust scattered wooden floorboards