Who'll decide horses' future — nature or man? 



A sorrel mare dips her head into 

 brackish marsh water to pull up fresh 

 shoots of sea grass. It's spring and 

 she's survived on tough dune grasses 

 for most of the winter. Here and there 

 lie the carcasses and bleached bones of 

 several horses that didn't make it 

 through the winter. Perhaps they 

 mired down in marsh mud and were 

 too weak to pull themselves out. 



Across the marsh, another mare is 

 grazing. This one has a foal by her side. 

 It was probably born a few months 

 before, the toughest time for the 

 horses — the time when food is running 

 out and the fresh grass hasn't begun to 

 grow yet. 



The horses of Shackleford Banks 

 and Carrot Island survive in a harsh 

 environment. They eat the salty 

 grasses and paw in the sand for a sip of 

 brackish water. In the summer, they 

 stand in 100-degree weather and en- 

 dure biting flies and swarming mos- 

 quitoes. In the winter, they seek 

 shelter behind the dunes from freezing 

 winds, their coats becoming thick and 

 shaggy. But somehow, the horses have 

 adapted to the island's harsh environ- 

 ment. 



Daniel Rubenstein, a Princeton 

 biologist, says that islands, because of 

 their ruggedness, extreme climates and 

 fluctuating freshwater levels, "provide 

 habitats that must be adapted to in 



novel ways." 



Rubenstein says he has watched 

 banks horses drink salt water — an 

 adaptation that would probably in- 

 dicate some drastic modification in the 

 horses' kidneys. But no physiological 

 studies have been done on the animals, 

 and at least one doctor is skeptical. 



"That the horses could drink salt 

 water is beyond the realm of com- 

 prehension. I think it's a myth," says 

 William B. Blythe, professor of 

 medicine at the University of North 

 Carolina in Chapel Hill. 



The horses have adapted to a place 

 where fresh water and food are both in 

 short supply. They've learned that if 

 they dig deep enough, sometimes as 

 deep as four feet, they'll find a few sips 

 of fresh water. 



It's a life where only the strong sur- 

 vive. John Funderburg, director of the 

 North Carolina Museum of Natural 

 History, says, "Over the years, there's 

 been rather rigorous selection for those 

 who could survive the heat, adapt to 

 drinking brackish water and survive 

 the greatest concentration of mos- 

 quitoes in the salt marsh world. The 

 weak just don't survive under those 

 conditions." 



Now, after years of the horses mak- 

 ing it on their own, some people think 

 it's time to start managing the herds. 

 At least two scientists think 



Shackleford Banks and Carrot Island 

 may reach carrying capacity in the 

 future. For others, managing the 

 horses means an end to one of the few 

 remaining examples of a free-ranging 

 wild herd. 



Local residents, most from Harkers 

 Island, claim the horses, goats, sheep 

 and cattle that roam Shackleford. 

 Each year, around July Fourth, they 

 round up the horses, pen them and 

 brand the foals. The horses are a part 

 of the heritage of the Outer Banks and 

 a tradition some folks are afraid may 

 be slipping away. 



Sentiment has been aroused by re- 

 cent talk of a National Park Service 

 Plan to remove the animals from 

 Shackleford Island and to leave a 

 "representative herd" of horses. 



But Preston "Mack" Riddel, 

 superintendent of the Cape Lookout 

 National Seashore offices, says it's 

 premature to discuss the fate of the 

 animals. The Park Service is in the 

 process of purchasing Shackleford for 

 inclusion in the Cape Lookout 

 National Seashore. So far, though, 

 only about 500 acres of the total 3,000 

 have been purchased. 



"From our studies thus far, it ap- 

 pears the goats, cows and sheep should 

 be removed and a representative herd 

 of horses should remain. But that 

 could be a year, two years or even 

 three years away. Many people think 

 it's going to happen tomorrow and it's 

 not," says Riddel. 



One of the problems in setting policy 

 for Shackleford once the purchase is 

 complete will be that scientists dis- 

 agree on how the island should be 

 managed. 



Gene Wood, wildlife ecologist at 

 Clemson University's Belle W. Baruch 

 Forest Science Institute, conducted a 

 four-year study for the Park Service to 

 determine the impact of the animals on 

 the island. He concluded that if the 

 number of animals continued to in- 

 crease, they would practically denude 

 the island of vegetation. 



The sheep and goats are likely to 

 cause the most damage to vegetation, 

 he says. "Sheep, in winter months, will 

 even dig out the roots of plants, com- 

 pletely destroying them so they can't 

 grow the next season." 



The goats mainly influence the 

 maritime forest, keeping vegetation 



Where the wild herds are — tiny Carrot, remote Shackleford 



