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俠客列弗(Shackleford)海灘馬
地方性遺產
根據記錄顯示，北美最古老的居住族群不是人類，而是一群住在北卡羅來納州外灘群島(Outer
Banks)地區的野馬。
俠客列弗海灘(Shackleford
Banks)是一個位於北卡羅來納州沿岸不遠處的一個小島，島上住有一群100匹左右的野生馬；雖然它們是馬，但因為他們體型較小，所以比較像是矮種馬。
根據傳說，俠客列弗海灘上的馬群是西班牙野馬的後代，而這些野馬是幾百年前自失事船上脫逃出來的；因島上一度住有人類，所以這些馬只是移民遷居大陸時，被遺留在島上的結果；1998年時，因為俠客列弗海灘馬群是罕見的物種，所以美國政府通過一條保護該批馬匹的法律。
因為俠客列弗海灘上的馬群讓我們瞭解到可四處漫遊的野馬是如何生活的，所以它們是重要的資產；每個馬群中都有一匹種馬(成年雄馬)，它負責帶領馬群中的牝馬(成年雌馬)及它們的馬仔(年幼的馬)，帶頭的種馬必須夠強壯才能夠抵抗其他想要侵襲牝馬的單身種馬；馬兒的社交行為展現在它們的理毛動作上，兩隻馬兒會頭對尾的站在一起，使用他們的尾巴為對方驅趕臉上的蠅蟲。
The oldest documented population in North America isn't human, but a group of wild horses living in the Outer Banks region of North Carolina.
Shackleford Banks is a small island off the coast of North Carolina. A herd of about 100 feral, or wild, horses lives on this island. Although they are called horses, because they are smaller, these animals are more like ponies.
According to some legends, the Shackleford Banks herd is descended from Spanish mustangs -- horses that escaped from shipwrecks hundreds of years ago. But at one time people did live on the island, so the horses simply could have been left behind when the settlers went to the mainland. In 1998, the U.S. government passed a law that protects the Shackleford Banks horses because they are so rare.
The Shackleford Banks horses are important because they let us see how horses live when they are wild and roam free. For each group of horses, there is a stallion (adult male) that leads a group of mares (adult females) and their foals (young horses). A stallion has to be strong enough to defend his mares against other single stallions. The horses socialize with each other through grooming. Two horses will stand together, head to tail, and use their tails to keep flies out of each other's face.
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