Lizard love

These amazing pictures prove that a bunch of flowers can go a long way - even in the animal kingdom.
A male sand lizard, perched on top of a plant, catches the eye of a female with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
After she carefully climbs up the plant to reach him, she accepts his gift and the pair form an almost perfect heart shape.

But to prove the course of true love never did run smooth, the female then dramatically slips and falls off the plant - only for her doting new partner to dive to her rescue and help her down.
The romantic drama was captured by keen photographer Alexey Tymoshenko. 

'I took these pictures in the back of my parents house in Ukraine. I've been visiting there ever since I left home,' Alexey, 19, said.
'When I was a child one of my favourite things I used to do was play in the garden and watch the lizards.
'For many years I've learnt their behaviour - if you're friendly with them they are friendly with you because they get used to you and your hands very soon.

'Usually 30 minutes is enough for them to understand you won't do them any harm and now I can photograph them without them being afraid of me.
'But I never thought they could be so passionate and helpful to each other. It was amazing watching one drop and the male dive to catch her.
'And I was especially surprised by the scene with the flower - I'm not a specialist and don't know what it means but it really looked like one lizard is proposing.'

Alexey, from Ukraine, is studying engineering at university and takes photos as a hobby.
He added: 'I like to photograph nature, especially animals as they don't pose so you can photograph them as they are.'
Sand lizards spend a lot of time buried just below the surface of the sand, although they also enjoy basking in sunshine.




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