What the Walrus said . . .

Photos and Anecdotes from a vagabond!

No matter how good you are to a goat, it will still eat your yam!

Another African proverb that I thought was funny and slightly odd . . . until yesterday when it became really true.

I have just wrapped up three days at Assateague Island National Seashore. I came in hopes of seeing the wild horses, and my hopes were sated two minutes after I drove down the bridge and onto the island. There they were, standing in the marsh, as if they knew I was coming!

Two young male wild horses play fight in the marsh, practicing skills they will need later in their life when they fight for dominance to form their own bands.

My first night camping here was quite eventful. Thirty miles from the Island, I started running into scattered rain squalls. Keeping my fingers crossed, that I was not going to wind up setting up the rooftop tent in a torrential downpour, I soldiered on and miraculously the rain dissipated as I arrived on the Island. HUZZAH!! I got the tent up, threw together a quick bite to eat, and since it was still light, I headed to the beach to photograph the sunset! It was a bust . . . the rain clouds were moving back in. Seeing what was coming, a wall of ominous black and grey, I beat feet back to camp, and as fast as I was climbing into my nylon home away from home, the wind setting in! I felt safe and secure as the tent slapped and flapped around and above me. The rain made it sound as if I was inside a popcorn machine as obviously huge raindrops pelted against the roof of the tent, the wind buffeting the tent side to side. Try to get a good night’s sleep in that mix! LOL

Yet I did sleep! Awakening the next morning, I crawled out and saw that the world had changed. Maryland was now sunny . . . and my phone told me that a mid 70 degree day was on the way! Grabbing my cameras and after tossing down some tepid tea and piping hot oatmeal, I set out to find the wild horses of Assateague Island . . . and find them I did!

I must make a confession here . . . I have NEVER been comfortable with or around horses!! Confidentially, they scare the hell out of me! Horses stomp on and kill thousands of Americans annually. They are worse that hippos!!

So wandering amidst the dense brush and over the sand dunes, along the numerous trails and through the short and narrow tunnels . . . looking for these creatures as they played hide and seek with me was a bit nerve wracking. I was amazed, on more than one occasion, to not see the horses until I almost walked up on them, or the occasions when they DID walk up on me. The Park rules for these animals on the seashore is that we humans need to endeavor to stay at least 40 feet from the beasties. Again, someone needs to explain this rule to the animals, because they obviously just do not care about the 40 feet rule at all!!

It is spring! This is the time that the pregnant mares will foal, and the time when young mares are beginning to feel their oats. Additionally, the bands are all on the move looking for food, so confrontations between stallions can and will occur. When these horses decide to run (flee!), there is little regard to who or what may be in the way . . . so humans need to be alert or get run down!
For the most part, this is how the majority of the horses will look. They are almost continually grazing. The salt grass is not very nutritious, so the horses need to consume a lot of it daily. Since the plants have a lot of salt, the horses additionally drink a lot of water, which is why they all look so rotund.
Wild Horses come in a multitude of colors and patterns. I thought this one was really pretty with her blond mane.
The local horse group has named every wild horse. This stallion’s name is Bayberry and he runs a band of six other horses. He is magnificent!!
Bayberry may seem small but I think it is the length of his mane that makes him appear tiny. He is actually a fairly large horse, although all of the horses are small in stature compared to most farm or riding horses I have seen.
I had to get this photo for two reasons. First, to show that the horses go where they want and can wind up camping outside, or for me, below your tent so you need to exercise caution when initially getting up and moving around. Second, because the little dog, left alone in the RV was giving the poor horse it’s big dog attitude . . . and the horse was not even phased by all the barking!

My second night was better in the camp. The weather was warmer, and sleep came quickly after walking miles following the horses.

Day two with the wild horses led me to a new gang of seven. I was never able to quite decide who the lead horse was in this band. There were three young males that seemed to take turns at “play” fighting. I am not certain how much play is involved since the horses seem to bite each other pretty hard and their hooves are worn quite sharp to be used for kicking.
Quiet . . . they are damn quiet . . . even when walking through the brush. This is a picture of one of three wild horses that walked up on me as they came out of the wetlands.
The two pictures above are of a male and female from my second band of seven. This two stood well away from the others and just seemed to be in their own little space. They spent almost an hour like this, just gently touching, rubbing and grooming each other.
“Horse Play” looks like it can be kind of rough!
The biting has got to hurt!!
And when they ate not kicking or biting each other, they charge and attempt to knock each other down.
Just a wild horse . . . a very beautiful and gorgeous animal.

On the afternoon of day two, the weather was turning again. All reports said that the rain would be setting in and that overnight was going to be more and possibly severe thunderstorms. The following day was supposed to be scattered rain all day. Since I wanted to get these blogs caught up and get a shower again, I headed to a hotel in Ocean City, Maryland.

Ocean City is the like every other seaside beach town along the Atlantic coast. The hotel is virtually empty since this is the off season (probably why the rate was so good!) As I settled in last night, the skies never clouded over and the forecast made a complete reversal. There was no rain, no thunder and no lightning!

So I returned to Assateague Island today. It was sunny and warm, partly cloudy and I burned the crap out of my legs because I forgot the sunscreen. Actually, I fried my ankles the most since I also wore sandals and that skin has not seen the sun in years. I can only hope I did not blind any horse with my pasty whiteness!! There were not as many horses today . . . or maybe I was not looking as hard. I did not go climbing through the bushes or wade out into the wetlands (you can do that here . . . No Alligators!!) I stayed on the roads and visited all of the walking tours.

The history of Assateague is amazing. This is a photo of what remains of a single lane, 15 mile long asphalt road that developers had built down the center of the island. There was a plan to build over 150 cross street with over 9,000 commercial and residential buildings on the island. Mother nature took offense to this idea, and the largest nor’easter storm to ever hit the Island destroyed this idea and ultimately led to the island becoming the protected seashore that it is today. Chunks of this road can be scattered across the island, as far as the sound.

This is a Sika Deer. The breed is non-native to the Island and range from the Maryland (north end of the Island) to the Virginia (south end of the island). They are small, about three and a half feet tall, with a dark strip on their spine at the rump with white spots on either side of the stripe. Their size makes them perfect for the brush filled environment with the narrow horse trails and tunnels. They had very little fear of humans and walked out of the brush in front of me on two occasions. On one of these occasions, as I backed away from the deer, the deer actually followed me.

As I have said before, I walk a lot . . . probably a lot more that the majority of folks I see visit the parks. Most people will simply drive loops through the park, looking for the horses and deer . . . creating small “deer jams” that the Rangers manage very adroitly. I walk!!

Why do I walk? Because there is so much more to see when you can easily stop and look and simply listen. Case in point . . . as I was walking the edge of the road, looking for horses and deer through the undergrowth, out of the corner of my mind I saw the slightest motion on the ground. When I looked closer, this is what I discovered . . . a Northern Diamondback Terrapin . . . no bigger than a quarter. I wonder who many people drove by me, wondering why I was crawling around on my hands and knees, photographing the dirt!! LOL

Here is my final photo for this posting. A picture of an honest wild horse expressing his opinion of my taking his picture. Maybe now I do like horses better after all!! LOL

majik756

4 responses to “No matter how good you are to a goat, it will still eat your yam!”

  1. They are just beautiful animals Matt. It must be a family thing, as horses terrify me as well. But, these horses do look smaller.

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    • Jim,

      What I learned that it still to early and cold to catch the horses on the beach. Apparently they go there to cool down in the water and to get away from the flies. You can also, after Memorial day, rent a kayak on the Island inside the park, and possibly get some shots from the water when the horses venture out into the marshes. I was about a week early for the new foals, which should start dropping soon! Good luck my friend!!

      Matt

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