On Monday, birder Jason Ward tweeted out this crazy photo by east London hobby photographer Martin Le-May of a weasel βhitching a rideβ on what appears to be a European green woodpecker, and the bird doesnβt look too happy about it:
If youβve heard of the term fight or flight, this is a rare case of fight and flight.
The weasel wasnβt really riding the bird but trying to eat it.
Weasels are notorious nest robbers. And it looks as if Le-May got the perfect shot following a confrontation between a weasel and the woodpecker. Here are some other photo that Le-May took:
Le-May was walking in the Hornchurch Country Park in east London with his wife when they heard an animal in distress.
βThe bird flew across us and slightly in our direction; suddenly it was obvious it had a small mammal on its back and this was a struggle for life,β Le-May told Business Insider in a statement submitted through email.
That was when Le-May snapped the picture. Eventually the bird landed back on the ground and started struggling with the weasel.
The weasel became temporarily distracted by Le-May and his wife, which gave the bird the chance to escape.
βThe woodpecker left with its life,β Le-May said. βThe weasel just disappeared into the long grass, hungry.β
Thanks to the National Post for this great Article
amazing picture difficulte to believe that this was possble,im glad the woodpecker escaped alive
Yeah I had to some digging to prove it – very cool.
Ive learn some excellent stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting.
Thanks for the “flowers” @Smithe395