Raymond can’t be tamed. Now the last Outer Banks mule is retiring to greener pastures
Raymond is stubborn.
Conservationists and locals have feared for his life more than once. But the lone mule to roam with the wild stallions in the Outer Banks always pulled through — on his own.
Not this time, according to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.
Specialists with the nonprofit captured Raymond — as he’s been dubbed locally — Sunday morning and relocated him to a rehabilitation farm, the group said in a Facebook post.
“It was absolutely heartbreaking to remove him under these circumstances, but in order to save his life it’s the call that had to be made,” the post states.
North Carolina’s coastal communities have followed Raymond for years.
He staggered off into an island marsh one winter, sparking rumors of his death, only to reappear months later with a harem of mares, the Charlotte Observer reported.
At that point, specialists with the fund had already drugged him and “literally sawed down his hooves, which had become so deformed he couldn’t walk,” according to the Observer.
“A domestic horse would not have survived. He was just too stubborn to die,” herd manager Meg Puckett said after he reappeared last summer. “It’s that ornery, stubborn side that has made him one of the best known of the herd. Everyone knows Raymond.”
The lone mule was also caught napping on a beach travel lane in September, sparking concerns from observers who worried one of the stallions was dead, the News & Observer reported.
It was just Raymond, fast asleep and immovable, the Wild Horse Fund said in a Facebook post.
But Raymond’s health took a turn for the worse over the last week, according to specialists with the fund.
An ongoing situation with a fence that keeps the horses protected from the paved road and “more populated areas of Corolla” didn’t help, they said.
The fence is in disrepair despite the Corolla Wild Horse Fund’s efforts to repair holes and strengthen what’s left.
A 24-foot section in the ocean even remains open during low tide, they said.
“Last spring we attempted a temporary fix to that section, but it only lasted about 36 hours due to the harsh conditions,” the fund said in its Facebook post Tuesday. “A marine contractor is required for that kind of work.”
Now displaced horses from Hurricane Dorian are “regularly coming through the gap in the fence into the neighborhoods of Corolla,” putting themselves and people in danger.
Conservationists have been trying to keep horses away from the area by sitting on the beach late at night and adding ropes to the existing fence, but they said the animals keep getting through.
Raymond was among them.
With his damaged feet, the Wild Horse Fund said he can manage on the sand. But he started showing some troubling signs after “running up and down the asphalt every night for 10 days.”
A herd manager noticed him in extensive pain Saturday night, with his lameness continuing to worsen over several days. After refusing to budge from a neighborhood Sunday morning, the Wild Horse Fund said it opted to capture and relocate him to the rehab farm.
“Raymond would not have survived many more nights of traveling miles up and down the paved road,” conservationists with the fund said.
The mule requires different “pasture-proofing” than other horses, according to the fund — which spent roughly $5,000 on materials for his fence.
Nearly $20,000 had been raised for Raymond’s care through a donate feature on the Facebook post by Tuesday night.
“Raymond will probably never be domesticated, but he will be well taken care of for the rest of his life, on his terms and in a place where he is safe,” specialists said.
Raymond — “the mule who thought he was a stallion,” as one commenter referred to him on Facebook — may be one of the last mules left in the herd of wild horses at the coast.
At more than 20 years old, he’s known for his distinct braying and “brash personality,” according to the Wild Horse Fund.
A longtime resident at the coast told the nonprofit Raymond’s father was a “donkey that once belonged to a petting zoo in Virginia Beach,” though he reportedly “hails from a long line of Sicilian working animals.”
Some who are unfamiliar with Raymond’s presence in the herd sometimes tell managers they’ve heard “loud, unnatural sounds coming from the horses.”
“It must be sick,” residents will report.
“No,” the Wild Horse Fund says. “It’s just Raymond.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2019 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Raymond can’t be tamed. Now the last Outer Banks mule is retiring to greener pastures."
