Moderator: Moderators
Mirth Beneath the Earth wrote:"
>>snip<<
Tytoona does not really have a bat population to speak of (sometimes one or two is found and most of the time none). As far as I know, there are no cases of White Nose Fungus in Pennsylvania. We can only hope that the fungus infection is contained in the areas that it was found.
Yours in Caving,
Garrett Czmor, NSS 22709(R)(FE)
(NSS Manager for the Tytoona Cave Nature Preserve (PA))."
tncaver wrote:If there are no bats in a cave, why close a cave to caving? Sounds like unnecessary panic and overkill
without reason.
Most caves in the US that have known bat colonies are off limits during the winter hibernation months
anyway.
But I see no reason to limit caving in NON bat caves. It would be difficult for cavers to notify anyone of
random White Nose cases if no one can visit caves that might have just one bat.
Sounds counter productive to close all caves.
wyandottecaver wrote:We all laud the NSS for cave conservation and it's sound science ethic....until it interferes with our personal appeasement.
they are closing non-bat caves because.....
<snip>
Caving is fun and no one wants to stop, many people just wan't to do their own thing regardless. Until the what how and why of this pathogen are understood you may be helping to exterminate bats in the U.S. every time you enter ANY cave in the east.
wyandottecaver wrote:We all laud the NSS for cave conservation and it's sound science ethic....until it interferes with our personal appeasement.
they are closing non-bat caves because.....
a few bats cave A has white nose death. person A goes there not knowing about WNS and becomes contaminated. person A then goes to no-bat cave B and leaves contamination. Person B (avoiding bat caves) goes to no bat cave B picks up contamination and flies home to KY and visits cave mammoth cave C. Then in summer cavers D-Z also visit no bat cave B and well you get the idea.
If I want to keep white nose death out of my cave (and yours) until we know what is going on, the easiest way is to STOP ALL visitation....
alternatively. Bat A has white nose death. instead of his usual hibernacula he stops at no bat cave B for a winter, or maybe just 1 day. Caver A, B, C, and D visit no bat cave B and then go visit caves D-Z.
In short, if you aren't going in any caves you CANT pick up or deposit contamination that may or may not be present.
I live in Indiana and *I* am not entering any caves that I know to contain any bats. As for going in caves as a way to find WNS. the odds are far far better that people will enter caves with WNS not notice it because it hasn't fully developed or the bats are 60' high and in the dark and the cavers thinking everything is O.K. then spread it. In at least 1 case WNS was not noticed until the biologist examined bats *IN THE HAND*.
Also, it is NOT TRUE that most hibernacula are closed to winter visitation. Most BIG hibernacula with Endangered species are. If you are in a cave and you see 1000 hibernating little brown bats (or any bats technically)....guess what...your in a hibernacula! If your at crawlathon 08' in Jan, in a certain heavily visited stream cave with the other 600 people there that weekend and notice the several thousand Indiana Bats along the wall at head height, guess what...your in a hibernacula!
Caving is fun and no one wants to stop, many people just wan't to do their own thing regardless. Until the what how and why of this pathogen are understood you may be helping to exterminate bats in the U.S. every time you enter ANY cave in the east.
wyandottecaver wrote:I also did not intend that caving would cease indefinately. We may well know more by this time next winter and certainly within 2 winters we will probably know whether humans, bats, or both are vectors. Strangely, there are lots of people who never enter caves...in the face of such a serious threat is it prudent, practical, or even remotely possible for us to refrain from it for 1-2 winter seasons?
of course a "mandatory" closure of eastern caves is not possible if only for the reason that at least some portion of cavers regularly trespass as normal part of their caving habits and thus would not necessarily obey any additional restrictions anyway.
I also think I was unclear in my reference to the NSS and appeasement. All the activities you refer to are those we take voluntarily and in most cases we enjoy. I was talking about people grumbling about closing NSS preserves to caving, thus causing them to involuntarily not do something they wanted (or at least had the option) to do.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users