Fertility Control Update
Total Mares Darted: 1873
Working With Local Residents
By Deborah Walker
There are numerous ways people help our effective and highly successful birth control program. There are the volunteers who spend numerous hours in the field photographing the horses for our database and getting those pictures to the Herd Leads in the area. There are the darters who work among the horses to treat them with birth control. They are likely accompanied by a documenter or a spotter helping to identify the band and then mares who need to be darted. There are those who contribute by giving grants and sending donations for the Virginia Range program. But did you know that we also have several local residents that our volunteers visit to develop a relationship with by educating and introducing what we do. These local residents also help our efforts by granting permission to dart on their land, which is a requirement by the Nevada Department of Agriculture.
Recently I was the spotter for darter Johnny “Hollywood” Takacs. He was telling me stories about folks he'd met and how they are still in touch today. I got to witness him talking to these residents who gave information on where the horses have been going, and sometimes they tell us if there is an injured horse, or a band change. These locals are a wealth of knowledge and all of our documenters and darters have these relationships where they dart. What a treasure they are!
At the end of our day, we stopped to give apple bits to Sparky. Sparky and Johnny have developed a friendship and he literally runs to the fence to see Johnny! The folks that own Sparky love that Johnny has this relationship with their horse. After the little visit, Johnny and I were back to business heading to the Silver Springs area to find mares who need to be treated with birth control
Thank you to all the local residents and businesses who permit us to dart on their land. The success of this program is shared by you because without you, we couldn’t do our job.
Johnny “Hollywood” Takacs and local resident, Sparky. (With owner permission, of course!)