Zebras a-dazzle*

The young male zebras are horsing around, practicing for serious fighting when needed. They reminded me of teenage boys wrestling. They would have a go at each other with hooves and teeth, in bursts of furious energy:

and they would display apparent aggression:

Then they would suddenly stop, take a break, and indulge in affectionate nibbling at each other’s necks:

But no matter how much they honed their fighting skills, an elephant is a different sort of adversary. This zebra and his friend came round a bush, and came face to face with a very young elephant:

A brief pause, and then he sensibly realized that discretion is the better part of valor:

*Dazzle is one of several collective nouns for a group of zebras.  The others are zeal, crossing, cohort or the rather pedestrian herd.