If someone told you at the beginning of the year that 2015 would see a weasel riding a woodpecker, you would have laughed in their face. Nature might be odd from time to time but there is a semblance of order to the universe, we think, and that scenario does not fit into Mother Nature’s plans.

Of course back in May we were treated to this photo below, an actual unretouched image of the most badass weasel we’ve ever laid eyes on.

But wait, before you go bestowing this aerial daredevil with the title of ‘animal who least gives a damn’ you need to lay eyes on a raccoon in Florida’s Ocala National Forest. Here’s photographer Richard Jones with how his incredible photo came to be, courtesy of Buzzfeed:

…the raccoon was frightened when his son walked through some palm fronds to snap a photo, then jumped into the water and onto the alligator’s snout.

“I snapped a lucky picture right when the gator slipped into the water and before the raccoon jumped off and scurried away. Without the context you’d think the raccoon was hitching a ride across the river. Pretty amazing,” Jones said. “Definitely the photo of a lifetime.”

Good posture chap, I wouldn’t recommend making this a regular occurrence but if you live to tell the tale who are we to judge?

[source:buzzfeed]