First time for everything.

RELATED: What is Snaking?

Trailcam photos of some Virginia Range bachelors.

BLM staff will take over later this summer, according to the daily reports.  Thirty burros and twenty five horses had been captured as of May 13, with one death reported.

RELATED: Cibola-Trigo Nuisance Roundup in Progress.

The Forest Service is working on an environmental assessment for the Heber wild horse management plan, according to a story posted this morning by the White Mountain Independent of Show Low, AZ.

Comments on the management plan ended March 16.

The draft EA will be released for public comments around September 1.

RELATED: Forest Service Reviewing Heber Comments.

She was put down on Saturday due to infection, according to a report by OBX Today.

RELATED: Currituck Wild Horse Rescued After Snake Bite.

On the Virginia Range with Stephen Schrader.

The Charlotte Observer has it on film.  Two minutes of horses being horses.

KPNX News of Phoenix, AZ reported today that a man was caught on video harassing wild horses while they were drinking from the river.

The term is not defined in the statute that protects the horses so there is not much that law enforcement can do, according to the story.

Of course, shooting wild mares with contraceptive darts is not harassment because the PZP zealots said so.

One thing it’s not good for on the Virginia Range: Transmitting life, thanks to the nutjobs at AWHC and their local volunteers.

They’ll point to the project as a ‘solution’ to wild horse ‘overpopulation’ in other areas, which means keeping their numbers in check because most of their food has been consigned to public-lands ranchers.  They conveniently ignore that part, while giving aid and comfort to the ranchers.

This is the time of year when you see more activity at the higher elevations of the Virginia Range.  Trailcam photo sequence begins at 05:57 AM.

Notably absent are family bands with youngsters, thanks to the fertility control program administered by AWHC.

A very productive day and their colors are spectacular.  The horses, that is.

It’s the manner in which a wild stallion moves other horses, with ears pinned and neck extended but head close to the ground.  Resembles the front end of a snake.

RELATED: Virginia Range Stallion Snaking His Mares.

I wonder why.

But it doesn’t happen on rangelands in the western U.S. because wild horses have no natural predators.  Ask any public-lands rancher.

The sixth foal of the season was born last weekend, with two more expected, according to a report posted today by the Maryland Coast Dispatch.

The fertility control program (on the Maryland side of the island) was shut off four years ago but only now is the herd starting to recover.

RELATED: Assateague Herd to Add More Foals This Year.

The wound had become infected so she was removed from the beach for treatment, according to a story by OBX Today.  Sadly, she will spend the rest of her life in captivity.

Success was limited, but what else did they find?  Sorry, no drilling rigs or strip mines.

Thanks to DJ&Jules for putting this together.

BLM said today that testing of a new fertility control vaccine began last week at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City, NV.  Researchers believe that a single dose may prevent pregnancy for three years or more.

The current wild horse and burro population in the western U.S. is thought to be around 95,000 according to the news release.

The number of privately owned cattle and sheep trying to graze the same land was not given in the announcement.

RELATED: Fertility Control Study Approved.

The Virginian-Pilot said today that the Chincoteague pony swim set for July 29 has been cancelled.  The annual event, which involves the Assateague horses on the Virginia side of the island, helps to control the size of the herd, according to the report.

The horses know where to go when conditions deteriorate.  A turn to the northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected later today.  Rain accumulations of one to three inches are likely, with some areas receiving up to five inches.

Winds will switch from onshore to offshore as the system moves into open waters.

RELATED: Arthur to Drench Banker Horses?