by tncaver » Mar 27, 2010 6:06 am
I'm not sure you get the point. There are 10.000 caves in TN and MOST are small to insignificant. Most lack the qualities that bats like, such as being
large enough to avoid the reach of predators, desirable airflow temps and patterns, etc. Personal inspection has revealed few bats in most caves. Many
have one or two, most have none. Over the years, the persons registering caves have mentioned bats when they saw any to report and many of the people who register caves in TN pride themselves for being observant. Many of those people are biologists who are trained to to look for all fauna in caves. Another thing to consider is that the Tennessee Cave Survey is not open to anyone. Members must be approved by at least two other members to include one officer.
Therefore not just any yahoo is allowed to be a TCS member. This restriction helps to keep to keep the quality of TCS members high. This also tends
to increase the accuracy of the report forms and the data provided on them.
Cavers and biologists all have the same five senses. Many of the people who have registered caves on the TCS do have various degrees, master degrees and doctorates. Many are biologists, geologists, etc. JD's PHD is in HISTORY. My degree is Business. Some of us are plumbers. I think JD's observations have been influenced by the fact that he spends so much time, specifically visiting caves that harbor bats. This is because one of his caving buddies makes a living gating bat caves. Most TCS members visit many caves, find new ones, dig them open, survey them, inspect them and report them.
Perhaps the relevance of bats or no bats is irrelevant in itself, provided decon is used, limited caving area is practiced and avoidance of bats is also practiced. I have always avoided bats and still do. I don't handle them or touch them and when I see them I try not to get too close or shine my light on them.
Do biologists do the same? Last I heard the USFWS was asking biologists to check known bat caves from outside the entrances yet I continue to hear
about hands on bat surveys, banding, counting, inspecting etc. If it is no big deal for biologists to be doing all that HANDS ON activity, I see no reason
why responsible cavers can't go caving. Cavers don't go caving to handle bats. Do you?
I find it ironic that cavers and tourists by the thousands can visit a cave with bats and none of the bats are disturbed, yet just one biologist can visit and
the bats are sure to be disturbed by his/her prodding, counting with lights shining on them,
banding, and now culling and taking samples. When a biologist leaves a cave, the bats know he/she has been there. I also find it ironic when biologists
want to blame cavers when WNS if found. Wonder if bats like the smell of melting steel and acetylene when the smoke is sucked into the caves. The irony
is never ending. Do as we say, not as we do.
One more bit of irony. Biologists recently visited Worley Cave, TN to ask the landonwer to close his cave because of the bat colony. However, they did
not find any WNS. The irony is that CAVERS found the WNS and REPORTED it. Cavers are observant. They see bats but that doesn't mean they disturb them.
It was cavers that found WNS in Worley, not biologists.