Feral Horses in Miller Creek

Hello. I am the executive director of The Science and Conservation Center located in Billings. We produce a fertility control vaccine called ZonaStat-H. This vaccine is used by the BLM along with NGOs to contracept wild horses. Please contact us with any questions, we would like to help.
www.sccpzp.org

I’d like to offer a different perspective on the Miller Creek horses, and in doing so I want to point out that the language used in this article feels unnecessarily negative and biased. Referring to these animals exclusively as “feral horses” frames them as a problem before any balanced discussion even begins. Words matter. Many residents—including my family—view them as wild horses, part of the natural landscape and part of our community’s identity.

We live close to this herd and observe them regularly. The horses are calm, predictable, and nonaggressive. They have caused no harm to residents or livestock. Instead, they bring beauty, curiosity, and community connection. It is common to see families walk outside to watch them, and drivers stop simply to admire them.

Scientific Evidence on Risk & Coexistence

Ecological and behavioral research overwhelmingly supports the safe coexistence of small wild horse bands with residential communities:

NPS Assateague Island Study (2020) – Found that free-roaming horses living around thousands of visitors annually generated minimal safety incidents, with almost all issues linked to human feeding, not natural horse behavior.

Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range Plan (BLM/NPS, 2015) – Over decades of monitoring, stable bands showed no significant increases in aggression, property damage, or disease transmission.

USGS Fort Collins Science Center (Turner et al., 2017) – Small, territorial wild horse bands become highly predictable and low-risk when left undisturbed.

Canadian Wildlife Service Report (Berman, 2019) – Found that wild horses at the urban–wildland boundary often increase ecological diversity and pose minimal direct conflict with residents.

Journal of Wildlife Management (Scasta et al., 2018) – Concluded that horses are not common or efficient disease vectors for livestock, contrary to popular fear.

Across these studies, the same pattern appears: harm from small wild horse groups is far more imagined than real.

Psychology Matters: Authoritarian Impulses in Wildlife Management

There is a well-documented human tendency—across psychology, sociology, and public policy research—to default to authoritarian decision-making when something falls outside our control. When people perceive uncertainty, they often respond by asserting power rather than gathering evidence.
Psychologists call this the “control heuristic”—when faced with ambiguity, people choose the option that looks the most decisive, not the one that is most supported by facts.

A relevant example:
In 2014, several Western municipalities proposed eliminating or relocating wild geese from local parks despite no documented safety incidents. The motivation wasn’t actual harm—it was discomfort with unpredictability. Public review later found the policy was driven by a desire to “show control” rather than by evidence. After pushback, most of these communities chose non-intervention, and coexistence continues without incident.

The same dynamic can easily unfold here:
When wildlife lives near homes, people often feel compelled to “manage,” “contain,” or “control,” even when the animals are peaceful and causing no measurable problem. It’s important to recognize this psychological pattern so the County does not mistake an impulse for power as a need for intervention.

Local Observations Should Matter Too

My family identifies individual horses in this band—the leaders, the younger ones, their dynamics. These are not anonymous creatures wandering unpredictably—they are a stable group that occupies a known territory and interacts quietly with the community.

Human Value Is Part of the Ecological Equation

BLM’s National Wild Horse & Burro Program (2013–2022) reports that over 80% of Americans view wild horses as culturally important, not as hazards. In Miller Creek, this is evident in how residents respond with delight, not fear.

Evidence-Based Recommendation

If the horses have caused no documented harm, and if research strongly supports that small, stable wild horse groups pose minimal risk, the most rational and least disruptive option is to leave the herd in place. Encourage residents not to feed them, provide education if needed, and continue monitoring.
But intervention—especially removal—should not be driven by an instinct to assert authority or appear “in control.” It should be based solely on facts.

Right now, the facts support coexistence.

Let’s not allow fear, bias, or an authoritarian impulse to overshadow what is actually happening here: a peaceful, beloved group of wild horses enriching our community. Side note: Someone keeps removing my comments and I just keep reposting!

I have lived in the Miller Creek for 25 years. Never has this been an issue until some un happy people thought that it was there duty to remove this small family from there home. This is so sad. We barely see them, you gave to stop and look for them. I hope they leave them alone.

I tried to get these horses to a safe place a year ago they constantly tell all of us no these horses are friendly and loving if they are gonna be removed make sure they go into the right hands of people who genuinely want to help them!

Hello,
I've lived in Missoula well over 30 years, and I am a horse owner. I ridden horses in the area this feral horse herd occupies. I have been looking for a new home in Missoula, but won't buy in Miller Creek because of the feral horse herd. I don't want a feral stallion tearing down my fence to get to my mare. I don't want my horses getting their diseases. And I certainly don't want one running in front of my car at night and killing me.

Most of the people who want the horses left as they are are not horse people. They do not understand how very dangerous even tame horses are. They do not understand that they endanger themselves by being too close to the horses, and they endanger the horses by feeding them. There is a great deal to know about how to be safe with and around horses, and most of the residents of Miller Creek do not have that knowlege. I am basing this off of the public comments I have seen on social media. The ignorance is astonishing.

I don't know what the law allows, but I would encourage your committee to pursue what I view as the best option: remove all horses that are spending time in densely populated areas of Miller Creek. Vet and rehome those horses to people who have been screened to be certain they are knowledgeable and have the skills to handle and gentle feral horses.

As for those feral horses still living further south, enact laws to forbid the feeding of feral horses, and to establish that they cannot be approached any closer than x number of yards. I would also set up a program to vaccinate the feral mares with birth control, using a gun, as is done to control deer populations in some jurisdisctions. Then hopefully this herd will die out.

I write this as a lover of horses and of wildlife--and of people. The current situation is beyond unsafe--it is treacherous.

Interferes with fast drivers? I expect as it's Montana you will want to kill them because its your first option always. Leave them alone!

I am writing in support of protecting the feral horses found in Miller Creek, immediately south of Missoula. The horses have populated the lower-elevation developed terrain and high-elevation undeveloped terrain for 50–60 years, constituting multiple generating of horses. While the horse population has been a constant presence since the 1970s, increased human development and population is a newer phenomenon and a newer pressure on the horses. Efforts to reduce human-horse conflict may be warranted, but the focus should be squarely on educating people how not to come into conflict with horses. Unlike bears or mountain lions — predators that often act aggressively or violently when seeking food in human environments — the feral horses are generally neutral toward humans when given adequate space. Drivers should be urged to travel slowly and alertly, not just because of the horses but also because of people walking and riding bikes. We're talking about neighborhood streets and rural backroads here, not highways. The onus is on drivers to avoid wildlife, whether it's a feral horse or a wild elk. There's little, if any, evidence of disease transmission between the Miller Creek feral horses and domestic animals. These horses have persisted for decades on an unforgiving landscape populated by predators. Let's not make humans the ones to put an end to them.

It's pretty clear that there is a disaster waiting to happen. I hope that you take steps to remove them.

Want horses but want them safe n protected

I hope the solution isn't to round them up and send them to the auction yard where they could be picked up by kill buyers.

As for spreading diseases, these horses have been here for 40-60 years. They have not spread any diseases that anyone knows of.

Public Comment: Supporting the Miller Creek Wild Horses

I’d like to offer a different perspective on the Miller Creek horses, and in doing so I want to point out that the language used in this article feels unnecessarily negative and biased. Referring to these animals exclusively as “feral horses” frames them as a problem before any balanced discussion even begins. Words matter. Many residents—including my family—view them as wild horses, part of the natural landscape and part of our community’s identity.

We live near this small band, and every day we see something different from what this summary implies. Families regularly come outside to watch them. Drivers pull over to take photos. People slow down simply to admire them. The horses are remarkably calm around humans, not aggressive, not causing property damage, and not creating the kind of public safety concerns this article seems to suggest. In all the years they’ve been here, we’ve seen no evidence of harm. If anything, they’ve brought people together.

Our family has learned to recognize individual horses and their roles within the band. They are a social group, not a random nuisance. They enrich the area and add beauty, not disorder.

Across the West, studies show that small, stable bands of wild horses can coexist safely with residential communities when left undisturbed. Research from the National Park Service and BLM case studies (e.g., Pryor Mountain, Assateague Island) shows that predictable herds with established territory rarely pose meaningful danger. In many cases, the primary risk comes not from the horses but from human feeding or harassment—neither of which seems to be occurring here on a significant scale.

Before discussing “management strategies,” I urge the County to:

• Use neutral language rather than language that frames the herd as a threat.
• Document actual incidents—if any—rather than assumed risks.
• Include the voices of residents who value the horses and see them as an asset.
• Reference the many examples across the U.S. where wild horses coexist safely with local communities.

If the horses have caused no harm—and many of us who live closest to them can verify they haven’t—then the wisest and most community-aligned option may be to let them remain as they are. They are a unique, cherished part of the Miller Creek area. Let’s not default to solutions that remove or restrict them when coexistence is already working.

Thank you for considering this viewpoint…………………………………………………………………….

Please sign this petition to help save the horses: https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/preserve-the-freedom-of-feral-wild-horses-in-miller-creek?source=rawlink&utm_source=rawlink&share=1075ac3a-27bd-4cc7-84f9-8b475e245f7f

I do not want the Feral horses to be removed from Miller Creek. The horses thrive up there and they are not causing any harm to anyone. I have family who live in the area and enjoy seeing these animals living free. The horses look healthy. I see them often. It would be tragic if the animals were removed. I vote to leave them be.

Please leave them alone. Put up signs that warn people about the horses and that they are wild and not to touch them.

This is a tiny (6-8) band and an historic herd that most people wish to preserve. People absolutely love them. So listen to your constituents. This will be easy to handle. It is not an emergency. Their preservation needs an agency and the public needs to be educated. Maybe the horses could be herded up higher on the creek.

This cold be an opportunity for the Natural History Center to educate the public on being safe around the horses. They could make a kids book--by kids-- on the history of the herd or a documentary (with BSDFF) and interview some old timers, for example. Lets embrace these animals and our history with them and solve this as a community. It will be very easy if you include us all. Thank you!

The horses are a unique part of our neighborhood. Leave them as lone. Teach people to leave them alone like the other animals that roam Miller Creek

What your guys plan on doing with em

We live in a beautiful place where we are fortunate enough to see and interact with the wildlife in our area. I sit now typing this with squirrels, deer and raccoon out my window. Without this natural setting Missoula and Montana could be anywhere. Rather than look at this as a horse problem, treat the human problem. Educate people how to interact with their natural environment so both can thrive. Let these horses be!

What’s your guys plan to do with em

People need to leave wild not feral horses alone it's that simple.

Leave the horses be. They seem healthy and aren’t actually bothering anyone. They are near my house frequently and we love to see them. My kids keep their distance and they have never caused problems. Do something about the over populated deer first. They destroy plants, could spread disease, and are a nuisance in the streets, parks and yards. I have zero concerns about the horses.