Monday, December 21
We had an incredible opportunity today
to spend five hours on the Shackleford Banks, reached only by ferry,
with Dr. Sue, the CAPO vet for the feral and wild horses living on
the Banks. Our assignment was to collect fresh poop from various
mares for pregnancy testing. Three scoops of poop per mare, with
seven sealed bags by the time we finished.
Genetic research shows evidence of
Spanish ancestry in the herd of 114. How? Why? Many theories
abound, but no one is available to tell that story in fact. Within
the herd of 114 there are about 25 harems (one stallion, one or more
mares and their young) and 7 bachelor bands. Each dominant “alpha”
stallion guards one harem, and based on observation over time, the
harem population changes. The alpha stallion herds and protects his
harem from other stallions or other dangers.
These horses are wild, neither fed nor
watered by the Park. Plenty of fresh water and grazing vegetation is
available all over the island. The task at hand for today was first
to find the horses, observe them to identify them and then watch for
a rising tail and falling poop. Timing became a factor in this work
because the alpha stallion will on occasion mark the poop, thus
invalidating any collected specimen. In the collection process, we
watched carefully to stay safe from the stallion and other mares in
the vicinity. Finding the poop once it's deposited isn't as easy as
it sounds. We tried to stay at least 50 feet from the horses at all
times and had to wait until it was safe to move in with a plastic
bag. By the time we got to the spot we had to look carefully –
first find it and then be sure it was the fresh one – kind of soft
and a bit squishy, truth be told.
Dr. Sue left Carol and me to track
certain mares while she went off in another direction to track a
different one. At another time Dr. Sue and I went off, leaving
Carol with two mares to monitor. In the meanwhile, those two had a
bit of a tiff (the mares Carol was watching) over access to a fresh
water hole. When the younger one got to close, the older one
instigated a bit of a face fight so the younger strolled away. But
she was impatient and returned, at which point the older one simply
moved to block all access to the water hole. Pictures are posted below.
The first shot is a rather typical Shackleford picture - a couple of the horses hanging out on the dunes. The other three are of Carol on her way to collect poop, collecting three specimens, and on her way back to join Hillary and Dr. Sue - that's the middle one, I guess. The top shot of those three could be entitled "Now where is that poop?" and the bottom one "Getting it"
After that set of activities was completed we happened along a mare in heat trot off
in the direction of one of the bachelor stallions who had called to
her. The alpha heard and came trotting out of the bushes at full
speed to stop this engagement. He nipped at and reared the bachelor
and then chased him out of his turf. Alpha Stallion returned to his
mare and herded her back into the harem. What a sight!
A great book for those intersted in
wild horses is Nobody's Horses: The Dramatic Rescue of the Wild
Herd of White Sands by Don
Hoglund.
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