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Counting ZZZ’s: Zebras, Zorses, and Zonkeys .
WHAT, YOU SAY!?!
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| Nancy Nunke with baby zebra “Spots ’N
Stripes Zeahorse” and mini donkey “Lord of the Manor.” photos by Jime
Evans | | By Jim Evans
Nancy Nunke has always had a rapport with
horses, so it is probably not remarkable that she eventually
added zebras to her stable of standard horses, miniature
horses, donkeys and mules.
“I wanted more of a challenge and had always
loved zebras after training my first one about 30 years ago
for a wildlife park,” she said. “The 2-year-old zebra was
having some aggression problems. I was hooked — and so sad —
when I had to give it back after 6 months when I completed the
training, so I determined that sooner or later I would have
zebras of my own.”
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| Nancy with zonkey, “Spots ’N Stripes Zane.”
| | Nunke and her husband, David, moved to Ramona about
four years ago after finding “a property here that would be
private enough so that the zebras wouldn’t have road frontage
and stop traffic.”
Curious drivers certainly would have slowed
down if they had seen zebras grazing in a pasture at the side
of the road. After all, full-grown Grants’ Zebras from the
plains of Africa are not exactly indigenous to Ramona, and the
Nunkes and their partner, James Whipple, maintain two herds,
or “kinship groups” of zebras.
What the Nunkes did next, however, likely would stop
most drivers in their tracks.
For several years, the Nunkes and Whipple have
bred zebra hybrids — zorses and zonkeys. That’s right:
crossing a zebra stallion with a horse mare creates a “zorse”
— an exotic-looking animal that assumes the dominant color of
the mare with the stripes of its zebra sire.
Conversely, a cross between a horse stallion
and a zebra mare creates a “hebra” — the rarest of hybrids.
And crossing a zebra with a donkey creates a
“zonkey,” which similarly assumes the dominant color gene of
the donkey with the stripes of its zebra mate.
Readers can only surmise what their reaction
might be if they were driving down a country road in Ramona
and suddenly saw what looked like a brown “horse” with black
stripes looking back at them over the pasture fence.
“Jim, David, and I combined have been raising
zebras and breeding hybrids for better than 19 years,” Nancy
Nunke said. “We were instrumental in forming the international
Zebra-Zorse-Zonkey Association, to register and pedigree
privately owned zebras around the world.
“One of the biggest problems in this country
is the lack of records, so we have kept records throughout our
breeding years and have some zebras with three- and
four-generation pedigrees. We have always had top quality
breeding stock without defects in conformation or heart
defects from inbreeding by irresponsible breeders. We always
recommend purchasing only registered stock where the pedigree
guarantees the quality.”
Zebras live about the same length of time as
horses, Nunke said.
“They need a 6-foot fence with nonclimb or
chain link over panel fencing, because zebras can jump a
5-foot fence from a standing position if they really want to
or squeeze through the panels, which a horse just wouldn’t
bother trying to figure out,” she added.
“Zebras have to get to know each person
individually, unlike horses, that seem to be accepting of
anyone who walks up to it displaying behaviors of friendship.
Zebras recognize each other by their striping pattern, and it
is easy for them to recognize us by our facial features,
behaviors and voices, and they will make friends one at a time
with individuals.”
“Zebras are more agile and intelligent than
horses. They have to be,” she said. “They have to trust their
instincts for survival. Their flight/fight instincts are much
closer to the surface than horses. They will run first and ask
questions later. If they can’t run away, their fight instincts
kick in — literally speaking. Hybrids display the zebra
behaviors to a limited degree.”
Nunke said that all of their baby zebras, as
part of their training, go to a major event every month during
the first 90 days of their lives. The animals also learn four
or more verbal cues, learn to load, trailer, bathe, clip, trim
and are introduced to everything that they will be asked to do
as mature zebras, including seeing saddles, harnesses, carts,
etc.
This helps to socialize the animals and
desensitize them to objects, cars, noise, lights, other
animals, children and more, she said.
“We show our zebras at open horse shows in
halter, color, and in in-hand trail classes,” Nunke said.
“Recently, we provided the halftime show at the Del Mar Polo
Grounds, we have had zebras in the infield at the Del Mar Race
Track during the races, and we even walked a pair down
Hollywood Boulevard!”
She warns, however, that zebras and zebra
hybrids are not pets.
“I would never recommend a zebra or a hybrid —
or even a horse — as a pet,” said Nunke, who has trained
thousands of dogs, horses and other problem animals since
1978.
“There is no such thing as a ‘bomb-proof’
horse or a “kid-proof” horse. When someone asks me for an
animal like that (a pet), I recommend that they come and look
at our miniature horses. Zebras should never be considered
pets for children.”
“They take special training by special people
— adult people — who have learned how to work around them and
train them. Caution is a priority at all times, as they will
never be just like a well-trained horse. But, for those people
who love the ‘stripeys’ and who just won’t be turned off by
anything we say in caution, we are happy to work with them and
share our knowledge and experience to help make them
successful ‘stripey’ owners.”
The Nunkes conduct training clinics for
would-be zebra and hybrid owners.
“Zebras are about five times stronger than
horses, so you can’t just push them around to do your bidding,
because they will just push back,” Nunke said. “However, once
a person has been through our training clinic, they are able
to train any equine, because learning to train a zebra is the
ultimate in horse training, where you get into the mind of the
animal and have the animal move its own body where you want it
to go.
“In other words, we teach people to become
zebras in order to train zebras. People who have had years of
chronic problems with their equines are often able to resolve
those problems in a matter of minutes or days with our natural
method of training.”
The next zebra training clinic is scheduled
from Sept. 17-19 at the Nunkes’ Spots ‘N Stripes Ranch in
Ramona. For further information, call (760) 789-8908 or visit
www.spotsnstripes.com.
Nunke’s been trying to teach her zebras how to
talk, so don’t be surprised if one of them answers the phone.
They are related to Mr. Ed, you know!
Paula Davis Certified Forensic Locksmith By Laura Calverley
Ramona has its very own version of a CSI, but
this crime scene investigator’s field of expertise is in
locksmithing, not medicine. And the evidence she examines are
locks and locking devices, not bodies and blood spatters.
Paula Davis, co-owner of White Locksmith on
Main Street, recently completed training as a Certified
Forensic Locksmith, making her the first female CFL in the
country and possibly the world.
“I’m looking forward to getting into the
work,” Davis said. “I really enjoy it.”
A forensic locksmith examines locks and
security devices to determine whether a lock has been opened
by something other than a working key. Usually hired by
insurance companies, law enforcement agencies or law firms, a
CFL may issue a report or give expert testimony in court.
Their tools of the trade include microscopes,
cameras, lock picks and a computer, among other gadgets. The
field is relatively new, extremely high-tech, and until now,
almost exclusively male.
“It’s amazing what you can tell if you know
what to look for,” Davis said. “Just because a door isn’t
broken down doesn’t mean there was no forced entry. The lock
may have been bypassed or manipulated in some other way.
That’s what my job is: To find out what happened.”
Her specialty is in automobile arson and
theft.
“Car theft is a big problem. What often
happens is that someone leases a car and when it’s time to
return it, they realize they have gone over the mileage limit
and will need to pay heavy fees,” Davis said. “Instead of
returning the car, they report it stolen or set it on
fire.”
“The person could say that someone made a copy
of his/her key and stole the car,” Davis added. “The keys for
most new cars on the market contain chips, so you can’t just
get a copy made. The copy needs to be programmed to work with
the car’s internal computer.
The computer knows how many keys have been
programmed and we have a machine that can be connected to the
computer in your car that tells exactly how many keys it has
authorized.”
Davis, a locksmith for 11 years, owns White
Locksmith with her longtime friend, MaryAnn White. The women
met while driving school buses. Davis,who graduated from
Northwestern University, worked for the school district for 14
years.
“MaryAnn told me about a course she read about
on locksmithing,” Davis said. “I took the course and it was
fun. It interested me, so I decided to learn more.”
“In between runs for the school bus, I would
come down to Rusty Miller’s locksmith shop in town just to
learn. I worked there for four or five years for free.”
It took Davis three years to become a forensic
locksmith. She completed more than 80 hours of training to
become certified, traveling to Oregon, New Jersey and Maryland
to take classes from the International Association of
Investigative Locksmiths. Subjects ranged from basic
metallurgy and materials to lock bypass techniques.
Davis was chosen over several other applicants
to receive a scholarship for one of the classes. The classes
are intense and the testing difficult, she said. The final
certification process includes a three-hour written
proficiency exam and a 1 1/2-hour oral exam. Any interested
person must not only take all the required courses, but also
apply and fulfill certain qualifications just to take the
test.
“The verbal exam was tough,” Davis said. “You
are asked questions about court testimony and procedure and
crime-scene procedures, which are very strict. Part of the
certification process also included creating a mock
investigation and issuing a report.”
Davis’ investigational paper focused on gun
locks. She is knowledgeable about guns, because her father
used to own a gun shop in Ramona. Although the investigation
was fictional, she discovered a very real way to bypass a
trigger lock that is commonly used on handguns as well as
rifles. Her paper received a high grade and soon will be
published in a national trade publication.
There are only 63 Certified Forensic
Locksmiths in the country, according to the National
Association for Investigative Locksmiths. Davis could be
called upon to travel anywhere in the United States to assist
in various cases. Sometimes locks or ignition switches might
be sent to her by mail for inspection.
When Davis earned her certification, she was
presented with a tie-tack pin with “CFL” in a gold star within
a circle, the symbol of the IAIL. The pin came with a little
chain hanging from it, and she wears it on the lapel of her
golf shirt. When she got it, she asked, “Is this a pin or a
tie tack?”
“They only come in tie tacks,” she was told,
likely because until now, only men became CFLs.
Now they’ll probably have to order some pins
for women, too.
Photo by Darrel
Kinney
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