No Trouble at all Arkansas Couple Care for Zonkey

18 August 2009 One Comment

Don Paul and Dee Williams of Kensett, Arkansas have a pet zebra-donkey hybrid named “Trouble” that attracts a lot of attention. People want to see what a “zonkey” or “zedonk” looks like, and some would even like to buy him. Recently, someone left a generous offer on the Williams’ car, but Trouble is not for sale.

Trouble has been featured on local television, and a Houston radio station has also covered him. The nationally televised Montel Williams talk show, now off the air, inquired about putting him on the program.

Searcy admirers include many Harding University students and a group of retirees who visit him every time they are in Kensett. Some people even come with flashlights for a peek during the night.

Don Paul and Dee heard about Trouble, whose name then was “Louie,” on a trip to a Georgetown catfish restaurant five years ago. They checked with the owners, Charles and Debra Lang, and found that Louie was for sale.

The Langs had been unable to make a real pet out of Louie in the year or two that they owned him.

“Louie bonded with our goats but not with us,” Charles Lang said. The Langs think that their problems began with their getting him when he was about 5 or 6 months old and not earlier.

“He would stay out of ourreach,” Charles said. “He would bite you – zebras are wild, and he’s half-zebra. Over time, Don Paul has worked with him and got him to be a pet.”

The Langs found him at Pecan Valley Farms, 6.5 miles west of Mayflower. Betty Ann Seely, who had exotic animals for sale, sold the zonkey to them. She and her husband, Bobby, try to sell their farm-born zonkeys when they are between 3 days and 2 weeks old.

That makes for easier training for the buyers. A Tennessee man buys them early and feeds them on a bottle, Bobby Seely said.

Dee suggested changing Louie’s name to “Trouble” because of the trouble she thought he would be. The name doesn’t seem to fit now, but Don Paul said that he can still be contentious and try to nibble on you.

The desire to bite, his stripes and his mane come from his zebra father. Although zonkeys are sterile like mules, the Williams had him neutered in order to curb his aggressive tendencies.

His mostly dun color is from his donkey mother.

“During the winter, his coat grows longer and more dull,” Dee said. “The stripes also become less pronounced.”

“It took a couple of months for Trouble and me to become friends,” Don Paul said. “When my cousin and I went to get him (in Georgetown), he was pretty wild.”

Dee said that the zonkey’s large size concerned her at first.

“He probably weighs about 400 pounds,” she said.

But she was able to get a halter on him by feeding him apple and carrot treats.

The Williamses’ three children – Buddy, Jamie, and Jason – help with feeding him his basic diet of oats, hay and wheat. Eight grandchildren enjoy petting and feeding him, too.

“He eats about 5 pounds of feed a day,” Don Paul said.

Trouble seems happy in his home on a vacant lot the Williamses own across a side street from their home. He has a shed for shelter.

But the Williamses must keep their two small dogs separated from Trouble: His zebra genes make him despise all canines, and he will kick them if he can.

Trouble is usually quiet.

“But if Don Paul has been away for a while, Trouble will bray when he comes home,” Dee said.