Photo Of Weasel Riding Woodpecker Is Real, These Flying Weaselpecker Memes Are Not

A photo of a weasel riding the back of a woodpecker, originally published by The Guardian, has gone viral around the world, spawning memes from Russia to Brazil. The photo is so incredible that many on Twitter questioned if it was a hoax. But the #weaselpecker is real, at least according to The Guardian’s conversation with the photographer, who provided additional images of the incident, as well as wildlife experts interviewed by National Geographic.

“As we walked we heard a distressed squawking and I saw the flash of green,” said Mr Le-May, the photographer. “We trained our binoculars and it occurred that the woodpecker was unnaturally hopping about like it was treading on a hot surface. [...] Originally, I thought I was just taking a picture of a green woodpecker flying. Then I realised it had something on its back.”

The weaselpecker gave live to many, many memes. We made a long list of them here. But if you can't wait... here are a few more to tide you over.

In Russia, fearless leaders ride the riders...

... to evade stormtroopers.

In Brazil, local giant rodents need bigger birds.

Putin again, lord of the despots...

... chasing a small child.

The caption in this Spanish cartoon read "Don't listen to them, what to they know of love."

And of course the dress meta-meme.