黃鼠狼飛騎啄木鳥: 畫面溫馨真相殘酷

It’s one way for a weasel to get around: hitching a lift on the back of a woodpecker.
照片上看，黃鼠狼趴在啄木鳥的背上搭了個順風車，兩隻一起飛。

In fact, the image captures the bird’s fight for life after the predatory weasel jumped onto its back and attacked it.
而實際上，這張照片拍下的卻是啄木鳥在遭黃鼠狼從背後襲擊時逃生的畫面。

The extraordinary picture was taken by Martin Le-May, an amateur photographer who was out walking with his wife in Hornchurch Country Park, Essex.
這張不可思議的照片是由業餘攝影師馬丁·樂梅偶然拍下的，當時他和妻子正在英國艾塞克斯的霍恩徹奇國家公園裏散步。

“As we walked we heard a distressed squawking and I saw the flash of green,” said Mr Le-May, 52. “We trained our binoculars and it occurred that the woodpecker was unnaturally hopping about like it was treading on a hot surface.
“散步時我們突然聽到一個痛苦的鳥叫聲，接着看到一團綠色一閃而過。”52歲的馬丁說，“我們用望遠鏡一看，發現一隻啄木鳥在不尋常地跳來跳去，就像踩到灼熱的地面上一樣。”

“The bird was about 50m away from us and took off just as I lifted the camera up. Originally, I thought I was just taking a picture of a green woodpecker flying. Then I realised it had something on its back.
“啄木鳥與我們的距離大概有50米，我舉起相機時它剛好飛走。一開始我只以爲自己拍下了啄木鳥飛起來的照片。後來我發現啄木鳥的背上有個東西。”

“Suddenly it was obvious it had a small mammal on its back and this was a struggle for life.”
“我突然發現那是一隻小的黃鼠狼，原來這是一場生命的掙扎。”

The bird was around two metres off the ground when Mr Le-May caught it on camera. Happily, it managed to shake off the weasel and fly up into the trees.
啄木鳥被馬丁拍下來的時候距離地面有兩米左右。幸運的是，最後它成功擺脫了那隻小黃鼠狼，飛到樹叢中。

The picture became a sensation when it was circulated on social media, with some Twitter users suggesting it could not be real.
這張照片被上傳至網絡後引起轟動，很多網友認爲照片不是真的。

But Matt Binstead, head keeper at the British Wildlife Centre, said: "You can tell it’s a real photograph.
但是英國野生動物中心的首席飼養員馬特·賓斯戴德說：“可以判斷，這張照片是真實的。”

"A female weasel is not much bigger than a packet of Polos but they are quite ferocious little predators and will prey on things much bigger than themselves – their normal diet is mice and small mammals but they can go for small rabbits.
“母黃鼠狼的體型確實不大，和一袋馬球的大小差不多，但是它們卻是非常兇猛的食肉動物，能夠捕食體型比它們大的動物。黃鼠狼常吃的有老鼠和一些小的哺乳動物，有時也能捕到小兔子。”

"It's quite unusual for them to go for a bird but green woodpeckers forage on the ground. I imagine the weasel gave it a go, jumped on its back and then the woodpecker took off."
“黃鼠狼不常捕食鳥類，但在地面覓食的綠色啄木鳥除外。我猜想當時應該是這隻黃鼠狼想吃掉啄木鳥，於是跳到它的背上，然後啄木鳥立刻飛了起來。”