This stunning picture shows the moment a hungry weasel appears to take flight on the back of a woodpecker. The remarkable encounter was captured by photographer Martin Le-May at Hornchurch Country Park in East London while out walking with his wife, Ann.
He spotted the baby mammal eyeing up its next meal before pouncing on the colorful bird. The weasel pounced on the much larger woodpecker to try and eat it while it was on the ground. It then fiercely clung onto its terrified intended meal as the bird took off and flew around before finally shaking it off.
Russian photographer Katerina Plotnikova takes her photography to a whole new level. She uses animals (with professional animal trainers) to take these shots with absolutely no Photoshop at all. Her pictures are very terrifying to see, but yet very beautiful.
The aptly named winner of the 2008 Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest, “Deadlock” was captured in the dead of night in a Belizean rain forest.
U.K.-based David Maitland watched from midnight to 3 a.m. as a rare Morelet’s tree frog doggedly refused to become supper for a cat-eyed snake–and still didn’t see the conclusion.
Photographer Gavin Oliver took this near the Todra Gorge in Morocco.
This extraordinary picture shows nine adventurous goats perched in the gnarled, twisted branches of a 17ft argan tree in North Africa. The creatures look as if they have been lifted into the tree by a cherry-picker. But, in fact, the goats are accomplished tree climbers who routinely claw and jump their way up the branches in search of its tasty olive-like berries.
The branches may sway dangerously under their weight, but the goats remain unflustered by their aerial antics. One even perches on the topmost branch of the tree, his bottom proudly in the air. The tree-climbing exploits of these Moroccan goats are just another example of the intelligence and adaptability of this most cunning of beasts.
This image sure looks photoshopped, but this is actually a real fish, called blue parrotfish. This intriguing blue colored fish is a member of the parrotfish genus Scarus and is found on coral reefs in shallow waters in the tropical and subtropical parts of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Anup Shah / IM Global-naturepl.com, Jan. 27, 2011
This affectionate scene was not staged. The elephant were recorded holding trunks while walking in Masai Mara, Kenya, as shown in the doc “One Life.”
PHOTOGRAPH BY JONATHAN BLAIR, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
A year-old Nile crocodile attempts to snap up a frog in the St. Lucia Estuary in South Africa. Also known as the common crocodile, these large reptiles are distributed across much of Africa, and they have earned their reputation as among the most ferocious, deadly animals on the planet.
Springer Spaniel Jess is a great helper for her owner on a farm in the UK. Three times a day the dog brings milk to orphaned young lambs—and then feeds them with a bottle. Jess has been trained to nurture lambs from an early age, and her owner says that it would be hard without Jess’ help on a farm with 270 sheep.
When this photograph was first published in Africa Geographic, BBC Wildlife and later in Paris Match and the Daily Mail it resulted in a flurry of e-mails, phone calls and letters from around the world asking if the image was a fake. The image became the most talked about of shark photograph ever.
The photograph is real, no Photoshop, no digital manipulation, no nothing, in fact it was shot on slide film Fuji Provia 100 using a Nikon F5 Camera and 17-35 mm lens.
Penguin surfing on a dolphin.
Photograph by Richard Sidey.
In Port Lockroy, Antarctica, two newly hatched gentoo penguin chicks get a quick look at the outside world as one of their parents stands up on the nest for a moment.
His name is Hulk. Well, look at him – what else would you call him? Weighing twelve and a half stone (175 lbs), he is believed to be the world’s largest pit bull, and at only 17-months-old, he hasn’t stopped growing yet.
New Hampshire residents and proud owners Marlon and Lisa Grennan say their monster pet is 100 percent trusted with their three-year-old son, Jordan, despite the breed’s fierce reputation. They even let him ride the animal like a horse.