We try to get to Assateague Island at least once a year. We have a favorite site to camp on. This year we visited in October and we took our new Jeep to 4-wheel all the way south to the MD-VA state line. There is a fence there that extends into the surf. The reason for the fence? It keeps the wild pony herds in each state separate. Ponies in Maryland are owned by the people of the United States and are cared for by the National Park Service, while the ponies in Virginia are owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department. It's those latter ponies that are herded each summer and swum across the bay to the mainland where foals are auctioned. Remember the children's book "Misty of Chincoteague"?