On an early morning walk in the mountains near his home in Italy, a wildlife photographer stumbled across a charming little scene. A tiny dormouse, in a most adorable pose, was perched atop a wildflower, almost seeming to smile for the camera.
Training his lens, the man seized his chance.
At the perfect moment, he captured the dormouse’s comedic expression; perhaps yawning after a night’s siesta, or sneezing from the pollen under his nose, the dormouse, mouth agape, seemed to be having a hearty chuckle before the camera.
As fantastic as it sounds, the picture speaks for itself. The wonderfully heartwarming image even went international and won a prestigious award.
The Italian native Andrea Zampatti, 36, who lives on the hills of Franciacorta in northern Italy, told The Epoch Times: “I was hiking on Mount Guglielmo early on an August morning, following a path leading to the top. Just out from the woods, I heard a strange squeak not so far away.
“After some research, I found a little dormouse perched on top of a yarrow flower. I was really happy and amazed. It’s not common that a very young dormouse can climb alone on a high flower like that.”
Wanting to document the dormouse’s curious behavior, Andrea knelt down to take a couple of close-up shots. Looking back at his photos later that day, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I was really amazed when I saw its expression,” he recalled. “I know wildlife well enough to say that animals can’t laugh, although it would be very nice to believe; I was just very lucky to capture that thousandth of a second while it was moving its mouth to squeak!”
A professional wildlife photographer for 15 years, Andrea has loved nature since childhood. While studying photography and graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts in 2007, he ventured into the wildlife genre. His profession has allowed him “a lot of amazing moments with animals” all around the world, he said.
His passion is stirred most strongly when he’s able to approach wildlife in his mountainous home region, where he photographs deer, chamois, eagles, ibex, and more.
“I remember with great emotion a close encounter with a beautiful red deer during the rutting season in late September,” he recalled. “Despite red deer being relatively common in Italy, they are very shy and hard to approach in the Alps.”
Here are more awe-inspiring wildlife photos by Andrea Zampatti:
