Motorists and bike owner Marcos Chavez notice a zebra on West Camino Cielo in the mountains above Santa Barbara.
Encounters with wildlife in the mountains over Santa Barbara are not uncommon.
Invest more than enough time, and sooner or later you are heading to see a coyote or a bobcat, a rattlesnake, possibly even a mountain lion or a bear.
One certainly does not count on to see a zebra.
But that’s what Marcos Chavez encountered on a new bicycle experience.
“The zebra started out operating at me,” Chavez claimed. “It appeared like air came out of its nostrils.”
Chavez took online video of the zebra, in the middle of the street on West Camino Cielo, at about 2 p.m. Sunday.
The working day started like most Sundays for Chavez, a Carpinteria resident. He started out his bicycle trip at Handlebar and headed out for what would become a 4-hour trek.
He biked up Highway 101, up Refugio Canyon, then east together West Camino Cielo toward Freeway 154. The scenic ridgeline obtain street traverses the Santa Ynez Mountain Assortment, featuring sights of the Channel Islands, Goleta and the Santa Ynez Valley such as Cachuma Lake
Just earlier Lizard’s Mouth and the close by taking pictures selection, Chavez arrived throughout the striped beast.
Chavez was instantly worried. Though there had been autos stopped in the street, their occupants ended up at the very least shielded by metal.
Chavez was exposed on his bike.
“As shortly as I rolled up, the zebra, he observed me,” Chavez explained to Noozhawk. “He read me and he noticed me, and he retained hunting at me.”
A individual in a person of the autos approached him and provided to transform his motor vehicle to protect Chavez from the zebra. Chavez was involved that if he rode his bike previous the zebra, the animal would chase him.
“I was not protected in a car or truck like anyone else,” Chavez explained.
The 48-12 months-previous modest company operator said his daughter volunteers at a donkey farm and he is familiar with zebra donkeys can be aggressive.
Chavez went for it, but the zebra found a route to chase him, and the animal did.
“I jumped on my bicycle and started pedaling tremendous quickly,” Chavez claimed. “He took three steps, but then the zebra slipped and fell.”
Chavez acquired absent and lived to tell his tale.
It’s unclear what occurred to the zebra. Some locals stated the zebra’s title is Maynard, and life at a neighborhood ranch.
Santa Barbara County Animal Control experienced not responded to requests for comment as of Monday. Chavez suspects the zebra escaped from a close by house.
This is not the to start with zebra sighting in the Santa Barbara hills. In a submit from 9 years ago on Reddit, another person reported seeing a zebra on West Camino Cielo, and there have been various other stories in the latest months.
Chavez will not forget the initial considered that rushed to his mind when he rolled up on the animal.
“I was like ‘What the heck is a zebra executing listed here?’ ” Chavez said.
This story was at first printed June 8, 2022 10:00 AM.