Do Not Feed the Wild Horses and Burros!
Something is happening up in the Spring Mountains NRA that is very wrong! Twice in one week in two different places and involving three different wild horses, the horses have walked right up to me and my buddy hikers. And, I mean right up to us! They are obviously asking for food as if they knew we might have some. One horse that we met up on the Stepladder Saddle wouldn't leave us alone and we had to trick him so that we could get by. This morning, as soon as we got out of our car at the Pay Phone Trailhead, a horse comes walking right up ... right up ... to us. He shrugged off a pet on the nose but was very interested in smelling our hands. Horse breath! His mate wasn't too far away. We heard about a recent incident that happened in the community of Rainbow. People were feeding the horses and one raised up and pushed a person in the chest with both feet.
In the 14 years that I have been hiking in the Spring Mountains, this is the first instance that I have been approached by a horse.
All that said, this can only lead to one thing. Horses that do not know how to keep themselves alive by eating off the land either die or get swept up by authorities and taken to who knows where. We don't want that, do we?
Please keep wild animals wild.
2 comments:
Kay,
Thanks for your note. I have seen too often people trying to get close and touch or feed them. I don’t say anything to harsh (accept to AtBF members) other than “Are you familiar with leave no trace and we shouldn’t feed wildlife?”
Over the last year I have experienced more frequent encounters with the horses, both along Kyle Canyon and Lee Canyon. The most startling example was a couple of weeks ago when I came upon the small herd usually seen along Kyle Canyon. This encounter took place on Deer Creek Rd, just a few 100 yds from Cougar Ridge Trail Rd as I was driving from Lee Canyon over to Kyle Canyon.
They must have traveled all the way up Deer Creek Rd from Kyle Canyon or along some of the parallel trails as I saw several deposits of Horse manure in the road.
With the significant increase of people coming to the mountains and park areas, I’m afraid we will see a deteriorating environment, including loss of fauna and flora.
Tony
Kay, I keep seeing Facebook posts of wild horses & hikers getting close and petting. At first I was posting comments about staying away from wild animals, apparently to no avail. Now I’m just going to have them read your blog. Very well written!
Susan
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