Weasel photographed riding on a woodpecker's back

[Enrique]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31711446



Amateur photographer Martin Le-May, from Essex, has recorded the extraordinary image of a weasel riding on the back of a green woodpecker as it flies through the air.

The photograph was taken at Hornchurch Country Park in east London on Monday afternoon.

Speaking to BBC News, Mr Le-May said he had managed to capture the moment while he was out walking with his wife Ann.

He said: "I heard a distressed squawking noise and feared the worst.

"I soon realised it was a woodpecker with some kind of small mammal on its back.

[In_The_Wind]

1. Beautiful photo.

Great ending.

[Arugula Latte]

2. The weasel's friends got it drunk and dared it to hop a ride ...

The practice is called "pecker hopping" and it's very common among young, aimless Mustelidae looking for a thrill.

[KG]

3. i call fake.

[Enrique]

5. here's the original

courtesy of Sara Yasin @missyasin ·

[hifiguy]

8. That's what I was expecting to see

based on the subject line.

[progressoid]

7. Interview with the photographer / bird watcher here:

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-03-02/incredible-image-shows-weasel-flying-on-woodpeckers-back/

[eppur_se_muova]

4. I read an anecdote about weasels riding chickens ...

they hop on the chicken's back, and "steer" it by biting one side of the neck or the other ... when the chicken has run far enough from the flock for the weasel to be safe, the weasel delivers a fatal bite to the neck and then eats the guts, leaving the rest of the carcass to rot.

Workers on a Chinese farm kept finding gutted chicken carcasses out in the weeds, and supposedly witnessed a few of these "fowljackings".

[orleans]

6. the bird is lucky to have gotten away

[betsuni]

9. So now we know the air speed volicity of a laden woodpecker?