They scarf potato chips and whole bags of marshmallows late in the
night, leaving behind trashed campsites and ruined tents. They break
into stranger’s coolers and make off with watermelons. They carelessly
turn on water spigots and leave them running...
They’re Assateague Island’s famous wild horses...
The horses have been mooching food for years, but their brazenness
has grown worse in the past few, said Trish Kicklighter, the park’s
superintendent. Some of Assateague’s 113 horses have become particularly
fond of junk food and interact with people who bring it into the park.
The horses beg. They pester. They even run a hustle that wouldn’t be out
of place on a D.C. street corner.
“I didn’t believe it until I
saw it,” Kicklighter said. “Two horses put their youngest, cutest pony
in front of a car, and then the older horses went around to the windows
to panhandle for food.”
It's actually a serious problem re the horses' health, and visitors' safety. Further details at the
Washington Post, where there is a photo gallery.
I've often wondered, at what point does a feral animal become a wild animal?
ReplyDeleteWe were camped there one time and we watched the horses raid a neighbor's coolers. A ranger came by and I said to him "they're like the bears in Yosemite" He said "They're worse than bears"
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