Endangered Bat Species found in Baxter Co. Cave

[L Roebuck]

Endangered bat species is found in Baxter County cave

David Kampwerth can smell bats hundreds of feet away. It's that earthy, pungent aroma of guano that tells Kampwerth's nose if a cave is home to bats or not.

On Thursday, Kampwerth rappelled down a 25-foot shaft into a cave in Northern Baxter County hoping to catch a whiff of that familiar scent.

Full Article

[Taylor]

A sidebar from the article:

Bat facts:

The gray bat was placed on the endangered species list in 1976. Human disturbance is the primary reason the gray bat is endangered.

Their habit of living in large colonies in only a few caves makes them vulnerable to any disturbance.

It's especially important not to disturb gray bats when they are raising young. Frightened females may drop their young as they flee from an intruder.

As with other endangered species, habitat loss also contributes to the decline of the gray bat. A number of important gray bat caves were flooded by reservoirs over the past decades. Commercialization of caves also has displaced the gray bat.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

[L Roebuck]

The good news is -- in 2002 the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network made a recommendation to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the status of the federally endangered gray bat (Myotis grisescens) be changed to federally threatened due to the population increase in hibernation sites.

Gray Bat Status Recommendation