The perfect shot: A weasel riding a woodpecker

Wednesday, March 4, 2015, 9:09 AM - The Internet is pretty robust, but it can, occasionally, be broken.

It's hard to tell what'll do it, given how fickle the Internet is (last week, that dress was enough), but the likeliest thing on Tuesday would seem to be a weasel riding the back of a woodpecker.

Behold:

We've reached out to the photographer, Martin Le-May, for the story behind this amazing shot, but it's already made the rounds on major news sites, up to and including the BBC.

It seems Le-May was walking with his wife near his home in Essex, England, on Monday when the two heard a 'distressed squawking.'

"Both of us trained our binoculars and it occurred that the woodpecker was unnaturally hopping about like it was treading on a hot surface," he told Bird Guides. "Lots of wing flapping showing that gloriously yellow/white colour interspersed with the flash of red head feathers. Just after I switched from my binoculars to my camera the 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."

Yes, as amazing as that shot is, that woodpecker was in mortal peril during the encounter.

Luckily, the photographer reckons his presence distracted the weasel long enough for its intended meal to wriggle free and fly to safety. The weasel, presumably, slunk off to find some less Twitter-worthy snack.

Although the pic itself isn't fake, Photoshop artists have already had a crack at it:

SOURCE: Bird Guides | Jason Ward