London ( CNN ) A photo of a weasel hitching a surprise lift on the back of a flying woodpecker near London has gone viral on Twitter , with more than 7,000 users retweeting the original post of the image . It was first posted by photographer Jason Ward on Monday and credited to Martin Le-May . After # WeaselPecker gained momentum , British media soon picked up the story , and television channel ITV interviewed Le-May . The amateur photographer from Essex , near London , told the broadcaster he had been walking with his wife in Hornchurch Country Park , Essex , when they heard `` a distressed squawking '' noise and spotted the woodpecker . `` 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 , '' Le-May said . Eventually , Le-May told ITV , the weasel -- known as a `` least weasel '' in some countries -- lost its grip and the bird flew away . Marina Pacheco , chief executive of Britain 's Mammal Society told CNN the image looked genuine and that it was possible an omnivorous weasel would take on a woodpecker . `` Weasels will go for anything that looks like food -- they 've got a high metabolism and they 've got to eat a lot , '' she said . `` It does n't surprise me that a weasel took a punt -- I 've seen a photo of a weasel charging a group of sparrows , they 're very hungry animals . '' But she said the weasel , which would generally try to break the neck of its prey to subdue it , may have exceeded its abilities in this case . `` I think it was a bit of a long shot -- it looks like it tried to grab the neck of the woodpecker to break it , '' Pacheco said . `` I think that it probably does n't have a big enough jaw to bite through the spine of the woodpecker . '' Weasels would not normally target green woodpeckers , Pacheco said -- their predators are normally the size of a stoat or larger . But the birds are known to spend a fair amount of time on the ground pulling up worms and hunting insects . `` If the woodpecker had managed to hit the weasel with its beak it would have been the end of the weasel , '' she said . `` They 're quite gung-ho little creatures . '' The pluckiness of the weasel spawned a number of parodies on Twitter , with manipulated images showing the creature in turn being ridden by Russian President Vladimir Putin , popstar Miley Cyrus , football star John Terry -- and even what appears to be a dog red panda dressed in a Darth Vader costume . ( Update : Twitter has now educated us on the difference between a dog and a red panda . Sorry , Darth ! ) As for the bird ? The green woodpecker is also known as a `` yaffle '' for its laughing call . After the shock of being targeted by a hungry weasel wears off , we can only hope it lives up to its nickname .
A photo of a green woodpecker flying with a weasel on its back has gone viral on Twitter . The image was snapped by amateur photographer Martin Le-May near Essex . It sparked the hashtag # weaselpecker and has spawned numerous memes .