Zebras

SuperMatt

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Zebras are on the loose near the nation’s capital. Residents in Prince George’s County, Maryland have reported seeing zebras in their neighborhoods. This quote from the news is priceless:

Her mother, Alexis Reed Curling, confirmed that three zebras had entered their yard. She called 311 and said the dispatcher "thought I was crazy."

"She paused for a long minute. I said, 'Ma'am, I am not drinking. I have not had any drugs. I have zebras in my backyard walking on the train tracks," she told NBC4. "I just wanted to know what service could come out because I didn't want them to get hit, and she paused for a long time and then said, 'OK, here's the number.' "


 

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Zebras are on the loose near the nation’s capital. Residents in Prince George’s County, Maryland have reported seeing zebras in their neighborhoods. This quote from the news is priceless:






I remember - with no small stupefaction - seeing around four or five zebras nonchalantly grazing on the grass on the roundabout just outside Nairobi's international airport the first time I first arrived there - my flight had arrived sometime after 1 a.m. - so it was quiet, and my taxi left the airport and turned at the roundabout - on a nice modern asphalted road, - towards the city, passing advertising hoardings, large buildings (car dealers, offices, banks, insurance places, excellent lighting - it could have been driving out of an airport anywhere in Europe, but for the zebras) and this small herd of zebras, grazing away, undisturbed, supremely unconcerned by the traffic (what little of it there was) and the urban setting in which they found themselves.

My jaw dropped, and I stared - after all, this was an airport roundabout, not a zoo - and the driver shrugged. "It's night time," he said. "This is normal, at night."

Ever after, whenever I flew in to Nairobi at night, (during the day, - for Nairobi's traffic was legendarily heavy, and noisy - the zebras - wisely, would take themselves off somewhere else) - I would look out for the zebras at the airport roundabout; and most of the time - not quite always - there they were, munching away, at ease in their environment.
 

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Zebras are on the loose near the nation’s capital. Residents in Prince George’s County, Maryland have reported seeing zebras in their neighborhoods. This quote from the news is priceless:





What was funny, at first, when I saw them, (and yes, okay, I wear glasses), is that I thought that they were some sort of urban art - some sort of statue intended to resemble zebras (not impossible or unlikely in an urban setting in a country with a tropical climate that is famous for its wildlife), but then, they moved, and were clearly busily engaged in eating, grazing, munching, that tasty grass on the roundabout, which is when I realised (to my genuine stupefaction, for they are wild animals, after all, not pets, and not creatures from a zoo, and this was about as urban a setting as one could imagine) that they were actually alive.
 

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In Africa one would kind of expect to see Zebras in the wild......not so much so in the Prince George's County, Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC!

True, but this was the centre of the capital city, which is (largely) a very attractive modern city (interspersed with quite lovely Art Deco quarters); however, I had assumed that the wildlife remained in its rural habitat, and was stunned to realise that this was not, in fact, the case.
 

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Have you seen zebras kick? They should be on the field, playing football, not refereeing it!
If a mule can do it...

1631737713114.png
 

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My mother - who, through her job, had an unusually extensive knowledge of the equine world - used to say, with that characteristic blend of exasperation tempered with humour that was typical of her (around the time of our teenage years, and, yes, somewhat later): "I don't know how I did it, but I seem to have raised three zebras."
 
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