Assateague Island Wild Horses

[snowbear]

A few of the Assateague Island's wild horses. Assateague is a barrier island in Maryland and Virginia, and a National Seashore. These were on the Maryland part of the island.

cmw3_d750_DSC_5050.jpg
by Snowbear Photography, on Flickr

cmw3_d750_DSC_5053.jpg by
Snowbear Photography, on Flickr

cmw3_d750_DSC_5060.jpg by
Snowbear Photography, on Flickr

 

[Jeff15]

They don't seem to mind the cars being there...

 

[snowbear]

Like some bears, I'd suspect they are used to the cars. They can kick and bite, so you want to keep your distance.

 

[Jeff15]

I suppose they lived there before the car park was even thought of..

 

[jeffashman]

Another list on my list of places to see.

 

[smoke665]

Nice!!! I suppose they are much like the Elk on the Cherokee reservation in NC. They look peaceful, but get to close and you'll likely pay a painful price.

 

[snowbear]

@jeffashman: By all means, come on out. On the Marylind side, there is a State Park as well as the National Seashore park; I don't think there is a state park on the Virginia side, but there may be on Chincoteague Island. They are seperate islands, Chincotreague being in the bay between Assateague and the mainland.

@smoke665: There are a couple instances, fairly recently, where they have kicked someone - one person tried to pet one and a woman smacked one with a plastic shovel becasue the horse got into her bags looking for food. I think people forget they are wild animals because they are horses.

One of these tore open a guy's soft cooler trying to get food. The ranger had told the person to put it in his car and shut the door but he didn't.

 

[smoke665]

One of these tore open a guy's soft cooler trying to get food. The ranger had told the person to put it in his car and shut the door but he didn't.

At the welcome center on the Cherokee side of the park are numerous warning about the dangers of getting close to the Elk, including a photo wall of damage to vehicles and injuries sustained. Yet along every road, you'll see cars parked on the sides of the road with people out walking up to them. Dumb!!!