It’s survival of the fittest in Corolla
After centuries of living on their own, wild horses adapt to weather the winter
To get through the colder months, Acorn and the other wild horses of Corolla modify their diets, their coats grow thicker and they know where to go to protect themselves from the cold. They’ve learned from centuries of living on their own.
COROLLA, N.C. — An aging Corolla wild stallion named Acorn has survived snowstorms, bitter cold rains and whipping frigid winds without a barn or bale of hay.
Like the other wild horses, he knows how to adapt to winter. They have no other choice. To get through the colder months, Acorn and the other wild horses of Corolla modify their diets, their coats grow thicker and they know where to go to protect themselves from the cold. They’ve learned from centuries of living on their own.
The crowds of people and vehicles parked along the beach north of Corolla are gone. A handful of shell collectors and coin seekers walk the beaches, occasionally spotting the wild horses.
The horses spend more time on the west side of the banks in the maritime forests and freshwater marshes, more protected from winter storms, said Meg Puckett, herd manager for the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.
Acorn has established himself as the leader of the female horses. For about 15 years, he has led the mares through the winter when the calorie-filled, green grasses in the Outer Banks’ natural meadows and manicured lawns turn brown.
Instead, they resort to naturally growing evergreen plants, she said.
“We do not feed them,” Puckett said.
The heart-shaped leaves of a thorny vine called greenbrier is like spinach to a wild horse.
“It’s often considered a pest on maintained landscapes but that doesn’t mean it’s not an important part of our fragile ecology,” she said.
Wax myrtles are another staple of the horses’ winter diet. They grow in thickets at just the right height for a horse to nibble on. The horses also get some nutrition from eating dry winter grass and stalks of sea oats on the dunes.
A team from North Carolina State University did a study on the wild horse diet years ago, Puckett said. The researchers were surprised to find how many acorns the horses eat from the plentiful live oak trees. A domestic horse would get very sick from eating acorns, she said.
It’s an example of the wild horses adapting their diet over the five centuries they have lived here without depending on humans, Puckett said.
To stay warm, the horses’ coats have natural oils that fend off moisture. The coat gets thicker as daylight shortens, Puckett said. Their hair stands up more in colder temperatures, making the horses look fluffier as it traps air underneath. Strong north winds and cold rain cannot easily penetrate. Snow sits on its coat like it would on the roof of a snug house.
“They are very well insulated,” Puckett said.
“If you see a wild horse with snow on its back, it means it’s warm.”
Acorn does not get his name from his winter diet. He is likely the son of Little Red Man, the famous wild horse from the 1990s who roamed from the remote four-wheel drive beaches to the village of Corolla.
Little Red Man was one of the most photographed Corolla horses ever. He and his harem of mares were often seen along the road and in yards eating an unhealthy diet of scraps from trash cans. Sometimes they were struck by cars.
For his own safety, he was eventually rounded up and placed with his harem on an island in the Currituck Sound where he spent his last days.
Little Red Man had a white patch on his forehead shaped like an oak leaf. Acorn has a similar patch. He was named Acorn because of the patch, Puckett said.
Acorn took on the mares once led by Raymond, the renowned mule who lived among the wild horses until moving to a farm in Grandy to spend his twilight years.
Puckett saw Acorn a few weeks ago munching on a low-lying evergreen thicket. He was looking fat and healthy and ready for winter.