THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505120464
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COROLLA LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
A wild filly that escaped from a fenced area north of this Outer Banks beach town was struck by a car on North Carolina Route 12 Wednesday afternoon, officials from the Corolla Wild Horse Fund said.
The filly, 1 1/2 months old and not yet named, appears to have been injured on her left front knee and left hind ankle, said Wild Horse Fund Director Rowena Dorman. The filly has been walking with a limp since the incident.
``But she is moving around,'' Dorman said. ``And that's a very good sign.''
The horse is one of eight members of the wild herd that bypassed a sound-to-sea barrier north of the road's end on April 15, Dorman said. Six other horses apparently remain confined in the area, where they were herded in late March for their protection. The eight horses that bypassed the 4-foot-high fence followed ``one smart mare'' named Butterscotch around the barrier, Dorman said.
``They walked out into the sound,'' said Debbie Westner, who chairs the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. The sound is only knee-deep near shore. The fence only stretches a few feet into the water.
Horse Fund officials said they have waited to return the horses to the protected area until they can find a way to keep the animals from escaping again.
``We're regrouping, strategizing,'' Westner said. ``There's no reason to keep pushing them back until we resolve where they came around.''
Dorman said the group will step up efforts to resolve the issue next week. She said the fewer times officials have to return the horses to the area, the better. In early April, two more horses escaped the fence - one rolled under it, the other walked around the east edge in the ocean during low tide.
According to local lore, wild horses have lived on North Carolina's northern barrier islands for more than 400 years. Some say the animals' ancestors were Spanish mustangs who swam ashore from shipwrecks. Between 35 and 150 of the horses have ranged freely between Duck and the Virginia border for at least two centuries.
In the past two decades, however, development has encroached on the horses' habitat. Shopping centers and subdivisions have sprung from the sand dunes. Thousands of tourists visit Currituck County's beaches every summer.
Traffic has killed at least 15 wild horses since 1989.
Five years ago, a group of local residents formed the Corolla Wild Horse Fund to help save the unusual herd. They raised $32,000 in donations and built a wood-and-wire fence at the north end of Route 12, where the pavement turns to sand. They installed a cattle guard that gives pedestrians and vehicles access to the beach - but keeps horses safely north of most traffic. On March 25, they enlisted four cowboys to help round the herd north of the new fence.
South of the barrier, million-dollar rental homes and resort communities blanket almost every block of beach. North of the fence, only a couple hundred houses are spread over more than 10 miles of sand. The horses can roam over 15,000 acres north of the barrier, stretching to the Virginia border. Some of the land is privately owned. The rest is in the Currituck and Mackay Island National Wildlife refuges.
But the animals seem to prefer the green, landscaped lawns of Corolla. by CNB