Hoof beats pounding across the sand: this is the sound of ponies living freely on Assateague Island, which lies on the Maryland and Virginia border. Maryland leaves its Assateague ponies in peace and preserves them, but Virginia manages its Chincoteague ponies disparately. However free and wild the ponies may seem, they are property of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department (VFD). The selling of these ponies began in 1925; the VFD fully acquired the herd in 1947 (Holden). One of the most tragic aspects of the auction is that the most trafficable ponies are less than a year old; buyers prefer to sunder the foals from their mothers at the clang of the auctioneer's gavel rather than waiting for the foals to reach the proper age for healthy separation. The older a pony is, the lower their price. These untamed ponies, sold into domestication and transported away from the only home they know, now live surrounded by humans and must become domesticated. The treatment and auctioning of the wild Chincoteague ponies is cruel and unnatural because the ponies are not accustomed to human contact and forced to perform actions against their will.
Before 1924, these ponies lived in peace and harmony, coexisting with the natural world i n the wilderness. However, when the Chincoteague Township burned down twice within five years, the townspeople decided that they needed to restructure their fire department (Holden). Suddenly, the idea of selling off untamed ponies to fund the maintenance of the VFD became a reality. In the first year alone, the VFD sold fifteen foals, raising over a thousand dollars and an average of seventy-five dollars per pony (Robson). The uniqueness of these ponies contributes to the 1.4 million tourists that visit this ar...
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"Saltwater cowboys." Christian Science Monitor Aug. 1997: 4. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. .
United States. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2010. Web. .
"Visit the National Park and See the Wild Ponies." Assateague Island. Assateague Island National Seashore, 2000. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. .
The current situation today, is that horses and donkeys have exceeded the amount to keep an ecological balance; from 26,600 wildlife to 38,300 wildlife. The horse program enacted by the bill passed in 1971, costs the government approximately $49 million a year. It takes the majority of the budget to manage the already captured horses; taking into account the life of the horses, it has been concluded that the total cost would be closer to $1 billion (Dean Bolstad, Roundup of Wild Horses…). A Federal law, allows the Bureau of Land Management to kill “excess horses to maintain what it calls ‘a thriving natural ecological balance’” (Ginger Kathrens). However, due to retaliation of animal right groups, the BLM has not taken any measures to eliminate
United States Department of the interior Fish And Wildlife Service, . North American Fauna. 2012.
Estimates are that at the turn of the twentieth century over two million wild horses roamed free in the western United States. However, having no protection from their primary predator, man, by the 1970’s there numbers had dwindled to less than thirty thousand. In 1971, after a massive public uproar, Congress by a unanimous vote enacted the “Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act” (Act) that characterizes wild horses and burros as national treasures and provides for their protection.
"Introduction for Creating Habitats and Homes for Illinois Wildlife." DNR. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. .
U.S. Department of the interior, National Park Service. (2013). Endangered Species. Retrieved from website: http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/index.cfm
Within the state of Florida there are dozens of individualized, non-profit organizations making an effort to help the local wildlife. The local land and marine wildlife includes birds, geckos, frogs, snakes, panthers, manatees, sea turtles, fishes, sharks, corals, lizards and many, many more. Florida State is located on the Southeastern tip of the United States providing a unique opportunity for conservation of salt-water animals. While there are animal conservation efforts taking place all over the world, this essay will focus on two animal species that humans are specifically trying to save in Florida State. The two main animal species of focus are manatees and sea turtles.
The image of the cowboy as Jennifer Moskowitz notes in her article “The Cultural Myth of the Cowboy, or, How the West was Won” is “uniquely
The inevitable outcomes of fate in our lives are like a boundless chain of dominos falling successively. Every action is calculated and deliberate; our lives are a predetermined path that only someone as powerful as God could change. Cormac McCarthy demonstrates both the good and evil that the power of fate brings for his character John Grady in All the Pretty Horses. John Grady’s journey starts in Texas, where he realizes after his grandfather’s death that there isn’t much left for him there. He idealizes a cowboy way of life not found in Texas. He journeys with his buddy Rawlins across the border to Mexico, a lawless desert land where trouble never seems too far away. Fate leads him to a capricious kid named Blevins, whose erratic behavior and rare, expensive, and thought to be stolen horse creates a series of dilemmas for John Grady when he arrives at La Purísima, a Mexican ranch. He finds more than just the cowboy way of life he longs for at the ranch; he also finds Alejandra, the owner’s attractive daughter. As fate would have it, he falls in love with her, but fate would also have it that their love is forbidden. Matters only get worse when John Grady falls in trouble with law insuring only more chaos. The series of events that Cormac McCarthy writes in All the Pretty Horses are meant to unfold as if the hands of fate put John Grady through all the pain, and suffering to be reborn, matured, and find salvation at the end of journey.
“Summary Report for: Fish and Game Wardens”. O Net Online. 2014.Web. 4 April 2014. >.
Before 1860 it was virtually impossible to get a letter or other form of correspondence from St. Joseph Missouri to Sacramento California in less than 20 days. 20 days seemed entirely too long for the west coast merchants and bankers to wait for documents from the east. So three men, William Russell, Alexander Majors and William Waddell created the Pony Express. The Pony Express ensured fast and safe delivery of the mail.
The area has been turned into a wildlife preserve to help maintain those ecosystems. The
Popper DE, Popper FJ. "The Reemergence of the American Frontier" Studies in History and Contemporary Culture. Forthcoming: 11 pages.
Engelhard, Michael. "TROUBLED WATERS: The Fate Of The Southwestern Willow Flycatcher Is Intimately Linked To The Health Of The Grand Canyon." National Parks 84.2 (2010): 1-4. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
In the passage, “Prairie Dogs: A Threatened Species or Public Nuisance?” Roberta Barbalace insists, “Their expansion encroaches upon the grazing land, golf courses, city parks and even airport runways.” This reveals how their population are thriving, and how it’s difficult to keep them under control. As their population extends, we will encounter more conflicts with prairie dogs. Additionally, Seth Magle discovered that “prairie dogs lived in communities on average five times more crowded than rural colonies”. This furthering the fact that as prairie dogs thrive, there will be many more problems to face. Prairie dogs population will keep exploding, causing prairie dogs to get in our
Few Hollywood film makers have captured America’s Wild West history as depicted in the movies, Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Most Western movies had fairly simple but very similar plots, including personal conflicts, land rights, crimes and of course, failed romances that typically led to drinking more alcoholic beverages than could respectfully be consumed by any one person, as they attempted to drown their sorrows away. The 1958 Rio Bravo and 1967 El Dorado Western movies directed by Howard Hawks, and starring John Wayne have a similar theme and plot. They tell the story of a sheriff and three of his deputies, as they stand alone against adversity in the name of the law. Western movies like these two have forever left a memorable and lasting impressions in the memory of every viewer, with its gunfighters, action filled saloons and sardonic showdowns all in the name of masculinity, revenge and unlawful aggressive behavior. Featuring some of the most famous backdrops in the world ranging from the rustic Red Rock Mountains of Monument Valley in Utah, to the jagged snow capped Mountain tops of the Teton Range in Wyoming, gun-slinging cowboys out in search of mischief and most often at their own misfortune traveled far and wide, seeking one dangerous encounter after another, and unfortunately, ending in their own demise.