VIDEO: It’s persimmon season and the Outer Banks wild horses love it

Midnight reaches for a ripe persimmon directly off a tree. [courtesy Corolla Wild Horse Fund]

It’s persimmon season and the Corolla wild horses are feasting away!

The American persimmon, or diospyros virginiana, is a fruit-bearing tree native to our area and found naturally growing throughout the habitat of the Corolla wild horses.

The fruit ripens and sweetens in the fall and is a favorite seasonal food for the horses.

The wild horses can be seen pulling the fruit directly off the tree like Midnight is doing here, and they will also forage for it once it falls to the ground on its own.

We have a persimmon tree at the rescue farm on the Currituck mainland and all the rescued mustangs love them, especially Raymond the Mule.