Amateur photographer Martin Le-May, from Essex, recorded an extraordinary image of a weasel riding on the back of a green woodpecker as it flew through the air. This unique photograph was taken at Hornchurch Country Park in east London on a Monday afternoon.
A Walk Turns Extraordinary
Pileated Woodpecker. Image via Depositphotos.
Mr. Le-May was out walking with his wife, Ann, when he heard a distressed squawking noise and feared the worst. What they witnessed was a woodpecker with a small mammal on its back.
Capturing the Moment
Martin Le-May caught the moment when the woodpecker took flight with a weasel on its back
“I soon realized it was a woodpecker with some kind of small mammal on its back,” Le-May said. The photographer believes that their presence may have distracted the weasel, allowing the woodpecker to escape when it landed, while the weasel ran into the grass.
Social Media Sensation
Image by schauhi via Pixabay
Le-May’s incredible shot quickly became a social media sensation, being retweeted several thousand times. “I’m so proud so many people are getting to see my image. I’m totally taken aback by the response to it,” he said.
The Ferocity of Weasels
Image via pexels.
Cooke highlighted the remarkable nature of weasels, noting that a female weasel weighs less than a Mars Bar but is as ferocious as a lion. This ferocity explains how the woodpecker could take off with the weasel on its back.
Strength Comparisons
Red-bellied woodpecker in Palm Beach, Florida. Image via Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Backshall compared the woodpecker’s feat to that of leaf cutter ants and rhino beetles, which can carry 850 times their body weight. He also praised the weasel for its ability to kill prey much larger than itself.
Woodpecker’s Usual Behavior
Long-tailed Weasel. Image by jill@ghostbear.org via Depositphotos
Typically, green woodpeckers feed on the ground, primarily eating ants. This encounter with a weasel is highly atypical and showcases the unexpected interactions in the wild.
Weasels in the Wild
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Picoides borealis, Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee NWR, Mississippi, USA. Image via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Weasels, despite their small size, are formidable hunters. They are known for their agility and ferocity, often taking on prey larger than themselves.
Reactions to the Photograph
Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis). Image via Deposit Photos
The photograph has garnered reactions of amazement and disbelief from people worldwide. Many have expressed awe at the remarkable nature of the image.
The Photographer’s Pride
Ivory woodpecker in tree. Image by Magali Guimarães via pexels
Martin Le-May expressed pride in his photograph, stating, “It’s almost a dream that you take a photograph that lots and lots of people not only look at but like.”
Educational Impact
Standing on a granite boulder, a quick moving and wild long tailed weasel looks up from an early morning alpine hunt near 11,000 feet in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
The image has also served as an educational tool, drawing attention to the behaviors and interactions of different animal species in the wild.
Wildlife Documentation
By James St. John – https://www.flickr.com/photos/47445767@N05/15391574567/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95659958
Such photographs play a crucial role in documenting and understanding wildlife behaviors, offering insights that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Conclusion
Image bia pixabay.
This incredible photograph of a weasel riding a woodpecker’s back not only captures a unique moment in nature but also highlights the unpredictable and fascinating interactions that occur in the animal kingdom.
Linnea is a born and bred Swede but spends as much time as possible in Cape Town, South Africa. This is mainly due to Cape Town’s extraordinary scenery, wildlife, and atmosphere (in other words, because Cape Town is heaven on earth.) That being said, Sweden’s majestic forests forever hold a special place in her heart. Linnea spends as much time as she can close to the ocean collecting sea shells or in the park admiring puppies.
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