A good photo is interesting to look at. A great photo makes you feel something. That applies even if it’s a photo of a squirrel.

       Or two photos. For the first time ever, there is a tie in The Washington Post Squirrel Week Squirrel Photography Contest. I couldn’t choose between the entry from Angela Napili and the one from Parameswaran “Param” Ponnudurai, so they’re both winners.

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       And both the photos moved me.

       It may be because of the times we’re living in. Angela’s photo is of a gray squirrel carefully navigating a barbed-wire fence. Is there an image that better illustrates what many of the world’s citizens are going through right now?

       Param’s photo is of a squirrel seemingly being comforted by its siblings. Couldn’t we all use that sort of succor these days?

       Angela is no stranger to my squirrel photo contest. In 2015, the District resident won with a photo of a squirrel basking in the winter sun. Like that picture, this year’s photo was taken at the National Zoo.

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       Angela has been visiting it a lot the last couple of years, drawn to the juvenile giant panda Xiao Qi Ji.

       “He naps a lot, and so when he's napping I tend to walk around to see what else is going on,” she said.

       Angela saw this particular squirrel last September behind the Small Mammal House, where a fence topped with barbed-wire separates the zoo from the rest of Rock Creek Park.

       “I was a little surprised to see him up there,” Angela said. “I was worried a little bit, but he seemed to be okay. He didn’t get caught. I guess he has urban living skills.”

       Param took his photo last December at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, a place he visits often. He’d been watching a mother squirrel raise her litter in a tall tree near one of the park’s boardwalks.

       “They’re really so cute,” said the Vienna resident. “One afternoon as I was walking back I saw these guys playing. I have so many portraits of them in different positions. This was one that really attracted a lot of attention and compliments from my friends.”

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       Param has a lot of time to focus on squirrels — and other wildlife. A career journalist, he retired last year from Radio Free Asia.

       What’s his secret to great squirrel photography? “I’m still learning, but patience is key,” he said. “The shot I submitted was among 500 clicks of those cute, furry, intelligent creatures in various poses.”

       I asked Angela — a librarian at the Library of Congress — the same question.

       “I try and get to the level of the squirrel,” she said. “A lot of the time if they’re on the ground, I’ll crouch down or even kneel down. I like to focus on the eye and hopefully get the twinkle in their eye.”

       These photos certainly put a twinkle in mine.

       Thank you to everyone who entered. To see dozens of other top entries from this year’s Squirrel Photography Contest, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.

       Tomorrow: Squirrel Week continues with some amazing parkour skills.