Woodpecker Takes Weasel On the Ride of Its Life

— -- A photograph of a weasel riding on the back of a woodpecker that seems almost too incredible to be true, is not photoshopped, according to the British man who snapped the now-viral photo.

Martin Le-May says he was out for a walk on Monday with his wife, Ann, in a London park when they heard a “distressed squawking.”

The couple trained their binoculars on the bird in distress and saw it was “unnaturally hopping” and flapping its wings.

"Just after I switched from my binoculars to my camera the bird flew across us and slightly in our direction,” Le-May told ABC News by email. "It was obvious it had a small mammal on its back and this was a struggle for life.”

The mammal on the back of the woodpecker was a weasel. The Le-Mays watched as the woodpecker landed right in front of them and fought for its life.

I feared the worst,” Le-May wrote. “I guess though our presence, maybe 25 meters away, momentarily distracted the weasel.”

“The woodpecker seized the opportunity and flew up and away into some bushes away to our left,“ he wrote. “Quickly the bird gathered its self-respect and flew up into the trees and away from our sight.”

As for the weasel that caused all the drama, Le-May says it disappeared into the long grass of the park, “hungry.”