I was wondering if there has been an inventory made of Colorado caves similar to ones that have been completed in Missouri. I know that the diversity is not going to be the same.
I realize this is off topic but wyandottecaver mentioned something I have heard about happening here in Tennessee. It is claimed that a well known caver from a few years ago dynamited a few of his discoveries shut to keep scoopers out and to protect the caves.
Don't know if there is any truth to it or not. But I did
shut one myself one time to keep the local scoopers
out. They didn't like it when I informed them that I
had shut the cave with a huge boulder that I was able
to pry bar over the entrance. I figure that if they dig
it back open then they deserved to scoop it. But I didn't want them to have it after I had spent three
weekends digging it open. They scooped part of it
and bragged about it on a local forum. That is how
I knew they had been there. But any further scooping
would require a lot of work.
At least in Indiana there are several instances of dynamite cave gates. too bad really. Hey TNcaver, If you PM me the coordinates I'll bring the drill and pyrodex :P
I'm not scared of the dark, it's the things IN the dark that make me nervous. :)
wyandottecaver,
Not sure what you mean. I shut the scooped cave on purpose to
keep them from scooping any more. I don't want it back open.
If the landowner were to ask I could open it back up myself.
But I prefer to leave it sealed. Besides, it was sealed shut by
nature before I dug it open. So now it is back the way it was
before I dug it open. Back to nature so to speak.
I think we should let this thread go back to it's
original subject:
Has an inventory been made of Colorado caves similar to ones that have been completed in Missouri.
wyandottecaver wrote:I always heard colorado cavers dynamited caves shut after they scooped them to keep them secret :P
Dynamited??? Someone's pulling your leg.
Like tncaver.........we plan to visit again. Personally, I like to think of it as repairing a landscape that has a hole in it....thus reblending it to it's natural surroundings.
Last edited by caverdan on Oct 17, 2007 8:33 am, edited 2 times in total.
I have been collecting invertebrates in Colorado caves for about a decade under a Special Use Permit from the US Forest Service, and there are many cave creatures present here, including a number of new species. Most common are springtails, beetles, mites, millipeds, spiders, centipedes, pseudoscorpions, diplurans and flies.