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Michael Smith turned the pages in his book, glancing up every few minutes to check how the game was going.

He wasn’t about to lose hours of time and not come away with the perfect picture. But during the course of this game, he found himself staring off in the distance and digging through snacks to keep himself busy, waiting for something special to happen.

Smith was used to taking photographs of high school football games, and even a few weddings, where patience was key.

But this was different. This photograph would be special if he could land the perfect shot on their home turf --these were THE BADGERS, after all.

“Sitting there 20 hours, and for day after day, and getting skunked and coming home with nothing gets frustrating,” he said.

He had picked the same spot each week to follow them. And on this day, the perfect lighting came over the grass. Smith pulled up his camera and took the shot.

Their furry little heads poked out of their den for only 30 seconds, but he got what he wanted — one of the cutest pictures of our state’s namesake.