Weasel Hitches Ride on Woodpecker in Amazing Image

Jumping on the back of a flying woodpecker was a birdbrained thing to do for one wily weasel. In a series of stunning images captured by an amateur British photographer, a weasel held tight to the back of a red- and-green-feathered bird, NBC News' United Kingdom partner ITV News reported.

But Martin Le-May and his wife, Ann, quickly realized as they watched the fanciful flight unfold in an east London park on Monday that the weasel wasn't simply trying to hitch a ride. "This was a struggle for life," Le-May told ITV News. The weasel, he said, wanted the woodpecker for lunch.

"I guess though, our presence, maybe 25 meters away, momentarily distracted the weasel," Le-May said.

The bird wiggled in a way to break free from its unintended passenger. "The woodpecker seized the opportunity and flew up and away into some bushes away to our left," Le-May said. "Quickly, the bird gathered its self-respect and flew up into the trees and away from our sight."

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

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— Erik Ortiz