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r1ch999999 t1_jde5rsn wrote

Reply to comment by still_deebs in TIL the US federal government captures and sells excess wild horses to the public by MoistCoyote

horses aren't native to North America in the traditional sense. All horses on this continent are here because a tame horse escaped, went feral, and bred.

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KGhaleon t1_jdej6r9 wrote

There are rumored to be native horses that once lived in America due to skeletons found, but they were likely hunted to extinction by the natives until domestic horses were brought back to the continent.

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/american-horses-horses-in-north-america-a-comeback-story/

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r1ch999999 t1_jdejp7f wrote

That is why I said in the traditional sense. Modern wild horses are protected for the reason you mentioned, afaik.

I've never eaten horse, to my knowledge, but I'm sure if I was hungry enough I would. We don't tend to eat horse, especially in the USA, because we have rules about what vaccines and drugs we allow in our food supply, and because horses (and dogs) are considered pets/working animals and not food, they're allowed more shots than say, cows or pigs.

I could be wrong in all of that, I'm just repeating what vets have told me.

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Jagged_Rhythm t1_jdeao6f wrote

Same with pigs, boars, etc. They came over on the Mayflower I think.

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r1ch999999 t1_jdebf7t wrote

I think they had 40-50 wild hogs on the Mayflower

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srcarruth t1_jdf0bk6 wrote

plus all them horny Pilgrims, woo woo! they could also be called hogs.

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snow_michael t1_jdixhux wrote

Or in the case of the Mustangs were deliberately loosed to go feral

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