It's getting harder and harder these days to run outside in your underwear and shovel-smack someone without ending up all over the Internet.

Case in point: This pantless French farmer, who became Twitter's obsession Monday after photos surfaced of him trying to drive anti-bird poaching activists away from his property.

Des dizaines de milliers de pinsons tués illégalement : Les Landes territoire de non droit ? <a href="https://t.co/azuuvgVhhC">https://t.co/azuuvgVhhC</a> <a href="https://t.co/FKzwuAFfNE">pic.twitter.com/FKzwuAFfNE</a> —@LPOFrance

France's The Local reports that "shovel guy," as he's coming to be known, is a property owner in the southwestern town of Audon.

Members of the French environmental protection organization LPO (La Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux) had gathered there Monday morning, along with some journalists, to decry the illegal slaughter of a protected finch species.

According to La Parisien, the protestors were dismantling traps that had been set for the birds in a cornfield when "a local resident came out of his house armed with a shovel."

The resident allegedly proceeded to insult, attack and try to steal camera equipment from both the activists and the journalists for about 15 minutes until police arrived.

Allain Bougrain-Dubourg : "Nous avons pris 3 ou 4 coups de pelle, on est 4 ou 5 dans ce cas" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AFP?src=hash">#AFP</a> <a href="https://t.co/z5IdArBBHe">pic.twitter.com/z5IdArBBHe</a> —@afpfr

While the LPO itself shared images of the incident on its blog and social media accounts, a series of photos taken by photographer Gaizka Iroz for AFP really set Twitter off.

Thousands online have been raving over one image, in particular, of the pantless farmer brandishing his shovel while staring straight into the camera's lens.

The situation captured in the photo may have been serious, but many found it hilarious nonetheless – chiefly due to shovel man's outfit (or lack thereof.)

Landes: des militants de la LPO et des journalistes agressés à coup de pelle <a href="https://t.co/iH3NuQVncn">https://t.co/iH3NuQVncn</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AFP?src=hash">#AFP</a> <a href="https://t.co/bZN0NNdLSy">pic.twitter.com/bZN0NNdLSy</a> —@afpfr

French media outlets picked up and published the AFP photo widely Monday morning, bringing it to the attention of social media users nationwide.

Soon, creatively Photoshopped images of shovel man were appearing on the hashtags #SlipGate, #Landes and #LPO.

Started Pack du jour <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SlipGate?src=hash">#SlipGate</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Landes?src=hash">#Landes</a> <a href="https://t.co/1FNAEHUhJ5">pic.twitter.com/1FNAEHUhJ5</a> —@RouatP

The shovel-wielding French man's real name has not yet been released to the public.

Here's what we know about the meme version of him, however, based on Twitter illustrations:

Shovel man has appeared in many popular films over the past century, miraculously at the same age and in the same underpants he was spotted wearing Monday.

Et maintenant, tu comprends pourquoi je ne voulais pas te présenter mon père ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/slipgate?src=hash">#slipgate</a> <a href="https://t.co/HsHsIXuguC">pic.twitter.com/HsHsIXuguC</a> —@Hoougo

… and he's not above going from the silver screen to the small screen

bon bah <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/slipgate?src=hash">#slipgate</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/topito?src=hash">#topito</a> <a href="https://t.co/CBaKyzHDso">pic.twitter.com/CBaKyzHDso</a> —@yodassin

Dur le tournage de Walking Dead! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SlipGate?src=hash">#SlipGate</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/lpo?src=hash">#lpo</a> <a href="https://t.co/HDoOqqNSKU">pic.twitter.com/HDoOqqNSKU</a> —@Flotriangle

Tremblez Lannister ! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Slipgate?src=hash">#Slipgate</a> <a href="https://t.co/Hgvw9BrG0L">pic.twitter.com/Hgvw9BrG0L</a> —@L_Assomante

Shovel man is also an accomplished athlete.

Sans commentaire <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SlipGate?src=hash">#SlipGate</a> <a href="https://t.co/RMufm1ezWP">pic.twitter.com/RMufm1ezWP</a> —@T_McClur

au troisième essai il tente le record ! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Audon?src=hash">#Audon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LPO?src=hash">#LPO</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Landes?src=hash">#Landes</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bernie?src=hash">#Bernie</a> <a href="https://t.co/OlEJ2ik5j1">pic.twitter.com/OlEJ2ik5j1</a> —@gatobazka

Not one to shy away from the latest gadgets, he's been known to carry a selfie stick around with him on vacation.

He used to call you on your, he used to, he used to, he used to call you on your cell phone...

Hotline BIM <a href="https://t.co/LEwzGizVAt">pic.twitter.com/LEwzGizVAt</a> —@supermegadrivin

'Cause ever since you left the city he... started wearing less and going out more...

Shovel man has been known to dabble in the world of politics...

Le mec il s'invite partout quand même <a href="https://twitter.com/topito_com">@topito_com</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LPO?src=hash">#LPO</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Landes?src=hash">#Landes</a> <a href="https://t.co/GyaLeb4Bv3">pic.twitter.com/GyaLeb4Bv3</a> —@Martial_G_

He's also been photographed doing many helpful things over the past 24 hours.

Made in France <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SlipGate?src=hash">#SlipGate</a> <a href="https://t.co/VBFotvL4Ie">pic.twitter.com/VBFotvL4Ie</a> —@Mrcataclysme008

Voilà, suffit qu'un truc rigolo arrive sur Twitter, et t'as de nouveau des montages à la pelle.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Slipgate?src=hash">#Slipgate</a>. <a href="https://t.co/zv5TPFhPHN">pic.twitter.com/zv5TPFhPHN</a> —@Felix_Brunot

It's hard to say, however, if shovel man has been repairing roads and building sand castles to fix his reputation after Monday morning's events.

Regardless of where the future takes him, it will likely include pants.