If it’s not a weasel on a woodpecker, it’s a raccoon on an alligator. In the latest case of interspecies transportation, a Florida man has captured a photo of a raccoon that appears to be riding an alligator. The image was snapped by Palatka resident Richard Jones while exploring the Ocala National Forest. 

Jones told media outlets that he captured the shot while searching the Oaklawaha River with his family for alligators. His son accidentally startled the raccoon out of its hiding place and, apparently a little confused, it jumped straight onto an alligator.

"It must have been asleep because it stumbled toward the water and hopped on top of the gator we were watching," Jones wrote in an email to First Coast News. "I snapped a lucky picture right when the gator slipped into the water and before the raccoon jumped off and scurried away."

This is not the first time wild animals have been caught on top of other species. In a similar incident earlier this year, an amateur photographer managed to capture some incredible images of a weasel attacking a woodpecker, and in September last year, a brazen genet in South Africa earned a reputation for riding on the backs of large herbivores after camera-trap images revealed the cat-like creature on top of a buffalo and a rhino in separate incidents.

The authenticity of the raccoon-alligator photo is still to be verified and with only a single image of the incident, it remains questionable (tell us what you think in the comments). But seriously, if you're a wild animal looking for internet fame, just hop onto the nearest species and make sure someone's around to snap a photo.

Top header image: Alexander Montuschi/Flickr

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