‘King of the Zebra Wranglers’ captures missing Washington zebra

How do you catch a zebra on the loose? Just ask David Danton. He’s a retired rodeo rider and, now, the King of the Zebra Wranglers. Last week we reported on how a trailer-load of zebras got loose in Washington state. Three of the four were rounded up quickly, but the fourth, a mare named Sugar (“Shug”), was on the lam for nearly a week. Enter David Danton, and the “secret sauce” of zebra captures. He corralled Sugar the missing zebra.

Sugar wasn’t sweet on being captured

Sugar may not have been sweet on being captured, but she, like other equines, still had the herd instinct. She soon found solace in a grizzled gelding (of the horse variety) named Razzle Dazzle. Razzle the Arabian lived in the area near where Sugar and her striped pals bolted from their transport trailer. According to Pamela Trujillo, Razzle Dazzle’s attendant, the 36-year-old gelding and the elusive zebra spent a lot of time together.

On a report carried by local station, KUOW, Trujillo watched to two—and the chemistry between them was delightful. “Razzle was her security blanket,” Trujillo said, describing how the two spent hours nose to nose. “He’s just a love. It was nice that he was able to enjoy a once in a lifetime girl.”

David Danton: King of the Zebra Wranglers

This budding cross-species May-December relationship turned out to be Sugar’s demise of freedom. Sugar hung out with Razzle too long, with Pamela Trujillo feeling compelled to report the zebra’s whereabouts. Enter David Danton, the rodeo star-cum-zebra wrangler.

Sugar’s owner had met Danton when, days earlier, he volunteered to help track Sugar down. When Sugar’s owner heard that the zebra was making a herd with Razzle Dazzle, she texted David Danton—could he help corral Sugar? Danton, ever-gallant in a Western sort of way, agreed to rounding up the zebra, free of charge.

Last Friday, David Danton and his wife, along with a crew of volunteer folk, drove on over to Razzle Dazzle’s place. Danton wore a large cowboy hat with a logo on it advertising his construction business. After all, how often do you get free media attention while doing a zebra roundup?

Initially, Sugar played shy—no hair, hide, or stripe to be seen. But soon, “Just her ears and her nose were popping above the bushes,” Danton told KUOW. “I’m like, holy smokes.” It was time for action—and the King of the Zebra Wrangler’s secret sauce. Well, secret grain, if you will. It turns out, Sugar isn’t into health food. She does like oats, but her big downfall? White bread! Danton dangled a half-loaf of that “unhealthy” stuff toward the recalcitrant zebra, and it was pretty much over. Sugar followed that purveyor of zebra treats right on into a paddock, and the gate was closed behind her. Bye-bye, zebra freedom.

And into the trailer

It took a bit more careful maneuvering. Danton and the zebra roundup crew slowly and carefully moved the portable fencing that made up the paddock closer and closer. Eventually, without Sugar’s catching on, they formed a funnel that led directly to a stock trailer, which the zebra finally walked into.

The next day, David Danton, zebra wrangler extraordinaire, drove east with Sugar. There, at Spokane, Washington, Sugar the reluctant zebra, was delivered back into the hands of her owner.

We’d like to the know the rest of the story. Just how is Razzle Dazzle doing without that cute little mare? We may never know.

##RVT1156b