In Pictures: Wildlife street art in Somerset

Street art with an environmental message has been taking shape in Taunton over the weekend as part of a project to connect people with nature.

Louis Masai has painted water voles, bees, a giant hedgehog and a bat on commercial properties and homes.

Somerset Wildlife Trust and Somerset Art Works aim to highlight the nature found in Taunton's urban environment.

Project manager Nick Tomlinson said many people would otherwise miss the "rich pockets of wildlife" in the town.

London-based artist Louis is fine-art trained. Here he creates a hedgehog on a house in Taunton, after negotiation with the residents and Taunton Deane Council.

The finished hedgehog. Louis says his work gives "a voice for something that can't speak for itself"

"I paint on the street because my work has a political message but also it's a nice way to engage a sector of the public who might not be interested in galleries," he says.

This water vole was created on the Co-op walls in Priorswood Place. All species chosen live around Taunton, including along the River Tone.

Beccy Swaine, of Somerset Art Works, said she hoped the project would "naturally engage with teenagers alongside all age groups" as "nature with attitude taking to the streets".

The Ocean Fish Bar got a facelift courtesy of these bees - painted over two storeys. Raising awareness of the decline in bees is a theme in much of Louis's work.

This bat was the second mural painted on a house. The plan is to expand the murals into an art trail, to open officially in the autumn with other works as part of Somerset Art Weeks festival.