RSS Feeds  Official: Island ponies believed to be safe  Tuesday
- 10/30/2012, 2:44pm  ET  Associated Press  CHINCOTEAGUE, Va. -
Chincoteague's most celebrated summer visitors _ the wild ponies
of Assateague Island _ apparently weathered Superstorm Sandy.
Fire Chief Harry Thornton planned to check on the rugged ponies
later Tuesday, but he said all indications are the herd of
approximately 130 animals found shelter on the barrier island
during Sandy's onslaught Sunday and Monday.  Thornton said the
refuge manager on Assateague told him there was no sign of the
ponies, meaning they likely were still hunkered down in
sheltered areas of the 37-mile-long island. They typically head
to higher ground during tidal surges, he said.  "They're smarter
than most people sometimes," Thornton said. "They kind of got a
mind of their own. They know where they need to go."  The last
time ponies died in a storm was the Ash Wednesday nor'easter
that pummeled Assateague and Chincoteague 50 years ago.  Every
July, the ponies make