Trail Entrance

Island Interior 1

Interior 2

Droppings

Horse puckey

Why do you suppose animals have followed the same trail until it is recognizable to even outsiders like people? The answer is survival and adaptation. During its lifetime, every organism encounters changes in its environment. Ecological responses happen during the lifetime of a single organism and these responses are called natural selection. Selective forces intensify every generation and account for much of the diversity we see in the world today.

However, some behavioral patterns are not a result of speciation or other selective processes. Rather, they are socialization forces which are taught or nurtured. While genetic adaptation (e.g., nesting instincts of birds) is not a likely cause for finding horse manure of wild animals in a centralized location, there are very sound reasons for not depositing fecal matter near your food or water source. Along the trail there are several horse piles that are frequented by all the population. Can you find the large collection of fecal matter along the trail? Why would horses deposit their droppings intentionally in one place?