Attractive nuisance
The wild horse that's been wandering around our neighborhood made it to our yard early this morning.
The tracks in the snow are where it dug down to the lawn to eat some grass. Here's a closer view of the visitor.
It stood there soaking up the sun (it was still 5 degrees) until the neighbor left to take her kids to school. Then it trotted down the street in front of her vehicle. It's probably hard to tell from this photo, but it has a thick winter coat. Note the souvenir it left in the middle of the street.
As I wrote yesterday, I worry about the horses. Yes, they are nuisances, but they don't deserve to have bad things happen to them. This morning I called a wild animal rescue organization (they're not considered wild animals) and Washoe County Animal Control (they're not pets). They referred me to the US Bureau of Land Management and Nevada Division of Wildlife, which I didn't expect to be helpful.
Instead, I called the president of the Hidden Valley Homeowners Association because I know we have a herd living just outside the neighborhood and some of the residents feed it regularly. He said the people feeding the horses have a permit for it and also herd them back onto BLM land whenever they come into the neighborhood. He is reporting this horse to someone who will do that.
The tracks in the snow are where it dug down to the lawn to eat some grass. Here's a closer view of the visitor.
It stood there soaking up the sun (it was still 5 degrees) until the neighbor left to take her kids to school. Then it trotted down the street in front of her vehicle. It's probably hard to tell from this photo, but it has a thick winter coat. Note the souvenir it left in the middle of the street.
As I wrote yesterday, I worry about the horses. Yes, they are nuisances, but they don't deserve to have bad things happen to them. This morning I called a wild animal rescue organization (they're not considered wild animals) and Washoe County Animal Control (they're not pets). They referred me to the US Bureau of Land Management and Nevada Division of Wildlife, which I didn't expect to be helpful.
Instead, I called the president of the Hidden Valley Homeowners Association because I know we have a herd living just outside the neighborhood and some of the residents feed it regularly. He said the people feeding the horses have a permit for it and also herd them back onto BLM land whenever they come into the neighborhood. He is reporting this horse to someone who will do that.
He does have a really thick coat. We call them 'wooly' with that winter coat. I am glad he has it. He(or she) seems to be well fed, and you can't see any bones. Aside from the danger of getting run over, it seems to have a pretty good life. Very interesting.
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I know it's possible for people to taste and smell things differently, but this is the first time I've ever run into it with flowers. I wonder if a perfume made from the plant would smell like skunk to me, too?
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