: PBS LearningMedia
Well, this is it. This is the final episode that the PBS Learning Media website offers, and it's about wild ponies on Assateague Island off the coast of Maryland and Virginia in the U.S. The Kratt brothers are searching for these wild ponies to learn more about them. During the episode many interesting things are taught: wild ponies are smaller than domestic horses, they are territorial and tough, wild ponies live in groups called bands which are divided into different ranks: stallions are the leaders and the lead mare is 2nd-in-command. We also learn about how mothers bond with their new foals and desire strongly to care for them and how they will use many tricks to ward off dangerous insects. History is discussed (Spanish attempted to bring them to the island, but the galleons sank) as well as the need to protect themselves and their territory against other rival bands. Chris and Martin demonstrate this by dressing up as a horse and being chased by the stallion which is arguably foolish: humans can't join horse bands and the horses would always suspect a strange horse as a threat. There is however, some evolution included within the episode: horses started out small as sheep with no hooves. It supposedly occurred 50 million years ago with a creature called condylartha who then split into two species: one evolved into rhinos and tapirs and the other into horses. Pretty far-fetched if you ask me. Anyways, I hope you enjoy these episodes as much as I still do. One thing to keep in mind if you want to watch them: you'll need to have the latest versions of BOTH Adobe Flash Player and Java installed properly. That's all for now. Goodnight!
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