# Weasel hitches ride on a woodpecker. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 4, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171 "2015-03-04T03:15:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/41 "2015-03-06T07:46:23Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Wait, who is stupid again? > > (Some days I lose track of the large number of candidates.) Don’t badger him. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/42 "2015-03-06T08:25:27Z")
Ermine your manners. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/43 "2015-03-06T14:29:09Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Wait, who is stupid again? I’m with stupid ↓ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/44 "2015-03-06T15:24:06Z")
^I’m not stupid, your stupid. [Weasles ripped my flesh!](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d7/Frank_Zappa_Weasels_Ripped_My_Flesh.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/45 "2015-03-06T16:57:51Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Some of them are a good bit bigger than the little guy in that photo. Notably the [Wolverine.](http://how2becool.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/The-Wolverine.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/46 "2015-03-06T20:32:25Z")
Weasel vs Seagull in Stoney Lake Ontario. I’m assuming that the weasel had not ambushed the gull in the middle of a lake but had been carried there by the gull in a manner similar to the woodpecker-weasel video. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3k319DbHU80/maxresdefault.jpg "Weasel Vs Seagull") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k319DbHU80) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/47 "2015-03-06T20:50:57Z")
Man…I sure am glad my hovercraft isn’t full of weasels… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/48 "2015-03-06T21:25:09Z")
[quote=“doorhinge, post:46, topic:714171”] Weasel vs Seagull in Stoney Lake Ontario. I’m assuming that the weasel had not ambushed the gull in the middle of a lake but had been carried there by the gull in a manner similar to the woodpecker-weasel video. [/QUOTE] That’s a mink, a much larger animal. Minks swim well and they are close enough to shore that it could have just swum out to attack the gull. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/49 "2015-03-06T22:22:49Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That’s a mink, a much larger animal. Minks swim well and they are close enough to shore that it could have just swum out to attack the gull. Thanks for the info. I noticed that after the mink and gull had tired of trying to drown each other, the mink began swimming towards the guys in the boat. :eek: Those Canadian minks are bad ass critters. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/50 "2015-03-06T22:34:25Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > ^I’m not stupid, your stupid. > > [Weasles ripped my flesh!](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d7/Frank_Zappa_Weasels_Ripped_My_Flesh.jpg) That’s not weasels ripped my flesh! [THIS](http://sleevage.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/mans_life_weasels.jpg) is weasels ripped my flesh. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/51 "2015-03-06T22:44:24Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > When I think of weasels (and I don’t often do) I don’t picture them being the size of hamsters. You may be thinking of a Stoat, which is stoatally different. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/52 "2015-03-07T13:41:38Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I see no reason to doubt it, particularly in view of the fact that it’s not just a single photo, it’s a sequence of at least four. Woodpeckers are very strong and robust birds. A small weasel might be as little as 15% of the weight of a large Green Woodpecker. And the bird didn’t carry it very far before falling to the ground. It’s also pretty clearly struggling- that species is common round here (the local name is ‘yaffle’, which I particularly like), and it’s flying really low for the species, with its beak open (which I don’t think I’ve ever seen), and very bulgy eyes. That is one freaked out yaffle. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/53 "2015-03-07T15:30:37Z")
I saw somewhere (I think it was the I Fucking Love Science FB page ), that the weasel was actually trying to kill the bird , not hitch a lift ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/54 "2015-03-07T18:21:27Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > That’s not weasels ripped my flesh! > [THIS](http://sleevage.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/mans_life_weasels.jpg) is weasels ripped my flesh. You’ll like this too. (POSSIBLY mildly NSFW) _[Neon Park - Zappa Wiki Jawaka](http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/wiki/Neon_Park)_ ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/55 "2015-03-07T18:36:59Z")
_Gonna hitch a ride Head for the other side Leave it all behind Never change my mind Gonna sail away Sun lights another day Freedom on my mind Carry me away for the last time_ ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171/56 "2015-03-08T16:47:57Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > I saw somewhere (I think it was the I Fucking Love Science FB page ), that the weasel was actually trying to kill the bird , not hitch a lift Weasels being weasels. Killing and eating the bird would have been the original plan. When the weasel realized that it had accidently boarded a Debden Overseas Airline flight (DOA - First in the air, First on the ground :eek: ), it jumped at the chance to jump to ground transport at the first opportunity. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-hitches-ride-on-a-woodpecker/714171.md?page=2)