A honeymoon is supposed to be the celebration of a couple's new life together, but Lynn and Steven Curran's honeymoon was more like an episode of "When Animals Attack."

The newlyweds from Chester, Md., had enough close encounters with wild critters to fill the storylines of several "nature run amok" movies. Because of their beast-plagued honeymoon, the couple recently won the grand prize in Thrifty Car Rental's 10th annual Honeymoon Disasters Contest.

Things started off mundanely enough for the Currans on their trip to Cancun, Mexico: They got the usual sunburns. That's when the couple decided that a moonlit swim in the ocean might be the perfect antidote for their lobster-red skin.

"No one was looking," said Lynn, "so off went the bathing suits." As the skinny-dippers frolicked in the water, it wasn't long before they realized they had company. Soon, the couple found themselves wrapped in the loving arms of a large jellyfish.

"We ran out of the water screaming," said Lynn, "which told everybody on the beach, 'Hey, look at the idiots running naked on the beach!'"

The day trip to the zoo was not much better. Swimming through a cavern, the newlyweds took a wrong turn and missed the "closed for repairs" sign. That's when they found themselves in a pool of algae, surrounded by

alligators.

"One swam right past me," said Lynn. "We had to climb up a 30-foot ladder to get out of the water, and we were covered in goo." That night, the couple ate dinner and went to bed without speaking to each other.

The next morning, when Steven woke up with a bad case of Montezuma's revenge, Lynn was forced to go snorkeling alone. A first-time snorkeler, she was entranced by the beauty of the underwater landscape. Then, from out of nowhere, she encountered a barracuda and the boat's drivers had to rescue her from her new swimming companion.

Lynn played it safe by swimming in the hotel pool the following day. When she snuck up on her husband to goose him on the backside, however, she soon realized that it wasn't Steven: It was another man wearing identical swimming trunks. The couple later decided to cancel a scuba trip when they found out Steven's "double" would be accompanying them.

"The only thing we did from that point on was sit around and eat," said Lynn. "I gained 10 pounds in one week and came home with a lot to talk about."

For surviving their postnuptial trauma and winning the grand prize in the Honeymoon Disasters Contest, the Currans will receive roundtrip airfare to a destination of their choice in the continental United States, three nights' hotel accommodations, a four-day car rental from Thrifty Car Rental and $500 in spending money.