from the Nov 2006 Missouri Conservationist...
Bat Cave
Early one September evening, Wright County Conservation Agent Keith Wollard received a phone call from someone who’d heard several gunshots near Big Smittle Cave and saw a pickup with two people in it leaving the vicinity.
When he went to the area, Agent Wollard found some empty shotgun shells in the road. He also discovered several dead gray bats, a state- and federal-endangered species, in the road and in surrounding vegetation.
The next day, Agent Wollard was able to locate one of the responsible parties. The man explained that he and a friend had been dove hunting near the area earlier and hadn’t had any luck. On their way home they observed several bats emerging on their evening flight from the cave. The men stopped and started shooting.
Agent Wollard couldn’t locate the second person involved that day, but he did run into him later that evening when he arrested him spotlighting and killing deer out of hunting season.
Both men were found guilty of taking endangered species, for which they received stiff fines, a year of probation and 40 hours of community service work. The second man also was found guilty of spotlighting, received additional penalties, and his hunting privileges were revoked for a period of time.
you can find the article here:
http://www.mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2006/11/20.htm
tom