Debris immune animal feeding nipple

A nipple configured for animal feeding when mounted upon an animal feeding bottle, the nipple comprising:

• (A) a tube of an elastic material, closed at one end by a dome shaped terminus, the other end forming an open nipple annular rim suitable for fitting tightly over the neck of the animal feeding bottle;
• (B) the dome shaped terminus providing a pair of first linear, through slits, the slits mutually intersecting at an angle of less than 90 degrees;
• (C) a sidewall of the tube providing a vent comprising a planar disk shaped flexible membrane having an axis of motion oriented normal to the membrane, the membrane having a plurality of equally spaced, non-intersecting, radially oriented, second linear, through slits, defining a central membrane portion and relative thereto, a plurality of circumferentially adjacent interconnect membrane portions, so that with a pressure differential across the membrane, the flexible membrane stretches into a concave shape, the second slits thereby being widened for relieving pressure from within the feeding bottle;
• (D) an annular flexible skirt extending from the sidewall and terminating in a skirt annular rim, the skirt generally positioned and shaped so that the skirt annular rim contacts the exterior surface of a bottle when the nipple is mounted thereon so as to prevent debris from moving into contact with the nipple annular rim;
• and wherein the sidewall has an interior surface and an exterior surface, the flexible membrane being positioned adjacent the interior surface in a circular well within the sidewall, and wherein the axis of motion of the flexible membrane is coaxial with a central axis of the circular well and forms an angle of approximately 20 degrees with a longitudinal axis of the nipple.