Beyond the famous horses — the dolphins offshore, the deer in the trees, the ghost crabs, and a squirrel that came back from the brink.
The horses hog all the attention out here, and I get it — but let me put in a word for the rest of the island's residents, because Assateague is stuffed with wildlife once you start looking past the ponies.
Out beyond the breakers, bottlenose dolphins cruise the coast in summer, and if you scan the ocean from the beach you'll often catch a fin rolling through a wave, sometimes a whole pod working the surf. In the forest and marsh, the deer we mentioned — native whitetails and those transplanted Asian sika. On the beach after dark, the ghost crabs rule. And here's a quiet success story: the Delmarva fox squirrel, a big, silvery squirrel that lives in these pine forests. It was so rare it spent decades on the endangered species list — but careful protection brought it all the way back, and in twenty-fifteen it was declared recovered and taken off the list. A genuine win.
So the wild horses are the headliners, but they're one act in a much bigger show. Dolphins offshore, deer in the trees, crabs on the sand, birds overhead, a rescued squirrel in the pines — a whole community sharing this sliver of sand. Keep your eyes moving, and this island keeps handing you surprises.
Photo: lwolfartist · CC BY 2.0
