Hair being cut from North Carolina horses — and suspects are selling it, cops say
Hair is being cut from horse’s tails, sparking a mystery in North Carolina, officials say.
The Nash County Sheriff’s Office said it has received reports that “unknown suspects” have been going to pastures to take the animals’ hair.
“Apparently there is a high demand for horse hair and they are selling the hair,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post Thursday.
Deputies in the area, roughly 45 miles northeast of Raleigh, ask that people who spot anything suspicious reach out to the Nash County Sheriff’s Office.
Horses use their tails to swat away mosquitoes and other insects that may carry diseases and cause them to lose blood, according to a research project summary published in Scientific American.
“Our work shows that a horse’s tail isn’t just an ornament,” the author wrote in 2018. “It’s their main line of defense against biting insects.”
It’s not the first time someone has been accused of stealing horse hair in North Carolina.
In March, the Camden County Sheriff’s Office said thieves sheared the tail of Thunder the show horse. At the time, the Eastern North Carolina department said hair from the animal could be used to make wigs, art projects and fishing line, McClatchy News reported.
