We’re thrilled to report that the herds of wild horses that roam North Carolina’s Outer Banks have emerged from Hurricane Florence unscathed.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Corolla Wild Horse Fund both confirmed on social media over the weekend that their equine populations are safe and sound following Hurricane Florence’s lashing last week.
Corolla Wild Horse Fund herd manager Meg Puckett told The News & Observer that the wild herd found higher ground and grouped together against the wind and rain. People on the island also kept an eye on them.
“So far it’s been business as usual for them, out grazing in all the normal spots,” Puckett said. “The horses are back out at all their usual haunts.”
Wild horses in Carova this morning, enjoying an overcast breeze and some green grass. Posted by Corolla Wild Horse Fund on Saturday, September 15, 2018
Further South, Cape Hatteras National Seashore confirmed that their herd of ponies on Ocracoke Island fared well in the storm. “We are happy to announce that all of the Ocracoke ponies are safe and that the pony pen did not sustain any damage from Hurricane Florence,” the national park wrote alongside a photo of the ponies grazing happily.
We are happy to announce that all of the Ocracoke ponies are safe and that the pony pen did not sustain any damage from Hurricane Florence. Posted by Cape Hatteras National Seashore on Saturday, September 15, 2018
Leading up to Hurricane Florence, Sue Stuska, a wildlife biologist based at Cape Lookout National Seashore, explained to the Associated Press that the horses are “highly sensitive to weather changes and instinctively know what to do in a storm.”
"Naturally, they are meant to be outside and they have high ground and they have thick places to hide," Stuska said. "Don't worry about them. They've survived for hundreds of years, and we expect that they'll be just fine."
We’re so glad she was right!
Agro_Crag on September 23rd, 2018 at 16:10 UTC »
I’m a tour guide at one of the companies that drive people out on the beach to see these beauties. Hurricane Florence, luckily, barely affected the northern parts of the Outer Banks. Not even power loss from the storm up this way. However, there have been MUCH larger and worse storms to hit these beaches and the horses do just fine! On the soundside (west side) of the area there are lots of spots with Live Oak trees that have a dense canopy. The horse instinctually know to push to these areas farther from the ocean and seek shelter in these canopied areas. They’ve been surviving out here for around 500 years. They know what to do!
2 years ago when Hurricane Matthew hit us, the area was flooded so badly. You could walk over the dunes and find horses just casually walking around through 3-4 feet of water drinking as they go! They’re really cool creatures.
YaBigBitches on September 23rd, 2018 at 15:49 UTC »
A lot of us locals made our way up to Corolla and Corova to check on them after Florence, very relieved to have them safe!
crosswatt on September 23rd, 2018 at 12:38 UTC »
Those horses are awesome. We had a chance to see a newborn foal there this spring. It was really cool.