In linking this story about a new Moose-themed restaurant opening in Sweden, Glenn Reynolds remarks that his sister was once bit by a moose.

Well, to top that, my nephew was bit by a zebra.

My wife and I went with my brother and his family (wife and my two nephews and my niece) to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch in San Antonio — a self-guided driving safari:

View our 50 different species, from addax antelope to zebras, llamas to ostriches. With the animal feed provided at the entrance you may entice many of these animals to come near for a morsel. See, feed and photograph many of our animals, including the friendly Sicilian donkey, the majestic greater kudu, the inquisitive oryx, and the always hungry buffalo.

As you drive through the park you can feed the animals small pellets through your window. These pellets happen to be about the same size and shape as a small child’s toes.

The park guidelines warn against opening your doors — which we quickly disregarded in my brother’s mini-van. We opened the sliding side door so everyone could get a better view.

I’m in the passenger font seat, and not paying particular attention, when my brother (the one in the Army) suddenly turns from he driver’s seat, rears back, and punches a zebra right in the nose.

When I turned back to see what was going on, a zebra had stuck it’s head into the car, thought my 3-year old nephew’s toes looked like food pellets, and proceeded to stick my nephew’s entire foot in its mouth.

My brother punched the zebra hard enough to make it let go. Luckily, the zebra’s teeth did not break any skin and — besides being afraid of zebras to this day — my nephew was OK.

Still a pretty good family story.

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 | Trackback |