For the next time someone says "dumb animal"

[caikgoch]

From   https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/l...36644.html




 




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June 11, 2018 09:21 AM




 





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One of the beloved wild horses that roam North Carolina's Outer Banks was run over and killed Saturday, and her mate responded by standing watch over the body all night, reports the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.




It happened on a beach north of Corolla and involved a four-wheel-drive vehicle, the fund reported.




"She died instantly and her stallion stayed over her body all night even after she was covered with a tarp," said a statement posted Sunday by the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. "There are no words to describe the heartbreak and frustration we are feeling...What a senseless loss."




The mare was buried Sunday morning, the fund reported in a Facebook post.




The identity of the person who was driving the vehicle was not released. However, the Outer Banks Voice reported it was someone from Virginia Beach.




It is the first time since 2012 that one of the island's horses has been killed in a vehicle-related accident, reported The Outer Banks Voice.




Investigators with the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office ruled the incident an accident and no charges will be filed, according to a June 11 story posted in the Outer Banks Voice. The driver told investigators it was foggy when the horse ran into the path of the vehicle, the newspaper reported.




Four-wheel-drive vehicles are welcomed in some areas of Currituck's beaches, but the public is required by law to stay 50 feet away from the wild horses, according to VisitCurrituck.com.




"Please, please, please pay attention when you are driving on the beach at night," said the Corolla Wild Horse Fund in its Facebook post. "Slow down and expect that a horse could be on the beach or running over the dunes at any given moment."




The feral herd, which numbers about 100, is thought to be descended from Spanish Mustangs brought to the North Carolina coast by explorers four centuries ago, according to VisitCurrituck.com.




Traffic deaths involving the animals were common between 1985 and 1996, when 21 died, reported the Outer Banks Voice. Protective measures were then put in place to keep the horses off major roads, the newspaper reported.

 




 



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[covfefelake]

Dumb humanity.

[battlecrops]

I hear about this a lot with the feral horse herds in the Yukon, there are so many of them they're a major traffic hazard and get hit often.  There have been efforts to corral and catch them to reduce the numbers so there aren't so many.  People get seriously hurt down here all the time accidentally hitting whitetail deer, I'm surprised you'd even survive an accident with a 1000 pound horse [img]<fileStore.core_Emoticons>/emoticons/ohmy.png[/img]/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" title=":o" width="20" />



Elephants do this as well, even recognizing and stopping at elephant bones they come across to mourn.

[heavyhorse]

Something I discovered, decades ago, in an unpleasant way, is to leave the deceased for a while to let the others come to terms.  




There is nothing more sad than seeing the survivor(s) running around, calling across the road or over fences, for the lost individual, hoping they may yet be found. 




The "prey" species in particular have an awareness of death (call it emotion, or call it evolution).  If someone is lost they may look for them for weeks.  If someone is dead, best move on, it's not safe there.  Practical or emotional?  Does it matter?  But now I leave the dead guy long enough for the rest to be able to know what has happened.  Move them out of the way if necessary, but don't make them disappear.  I used to think taking the body away as soon as possible would spare them from grief, but that's not so.