ON the dark side of a garden, not far, far away...

‘The furs’ is with the hungry squirrel as he tucks into a home-made Darth Vader feeder.

The rodent was snapped in the garden of Sci-fi fan Emma Young, 40, from Hampshire, who has created several novelty items as bird and squirrel feeders over the years.

"With the new Star Wars film coming out, I just had to try this," she said.

The mum of two converted a Darth Vader novelty lamp into the bizarre feeder, by hollowing out the insides.

“It was just the right size for a squirrel,” she said, at her home in Beaulieu in the New Forest National Park.

“Then I used a mixture of peanut butter and peanuts and packed it inside the head.”

Emma, a senior carer at a local nursing home, said it wasn’t long before one squirrel turned up to investigate.

“He looked a bit nervous at first, just gazing up at the head, but I think the smell of peanuts overcame any fear, and he soon stuffed his head in to reach the goodies,” she said.

“It looked hilarious, especially when he had both arms waving around as he tucked in!”

“The squirrels know winter’s well and truly here, so are keen to eat the nuts and also bury some of them in my lawn for storage.”

Emma said the squirrel spent a good 20 minutes munching the food she’d loaded into the head, before jumping off the log.

“Doubtless he’ll be back for just ‘Obi Wan’ more peanut which he can Chewbacca home!” she laughed.

The damaged remains of Darth Vader’s helmet appear in the trailer for the latest movie, and fan sites predict the character will return in the next Star Wars film, currently in production.

‘Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens’ goes on general release on Thursday, December 17.

The American Film Institute has listed Darth Vader as the third greatest movie villain in cinema history, behind Hannibal Lecter and Psycho’s Norman Bates.