Post by Sharon Faulkner on Aug 29, 2006 7:34:58 GMT -5
Abandoned mines host Arizona wildlife
By Shanna Hogan
August 28, 2006
Abandoned mine shafts scar the hillsides of the 38-acre Phoenix Mine site north of Cave Creek, lending a glimpse of the area’s mining past. To preserve that history, a visitors center, parking lot and museum soon will be built on the site located within the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area. The mine shafts, which have become home to bats, rattlesnakes, mountain lions and other native wildlife, also will remain preserved.
Though old mines can be dangerous for people, animals love them. The 100,000 abandoned mines throughout Arizona have become habitats for a variety of species, like shipwrecks of the desert.
“The mine areas definitely help sustain wildlife,” said Kevin Smith, interpretive ranger for the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area. “Bats especially, but other animals like javelinas, bobcats, snakes and pack rats use them, too.”
For bats, the mines not only have boosted their population, but helped it prosper.
Many of the caves that bats normally would occupy have been taken over by humans and used for activities like recreation and tourism, said Bill Burger, a nongame specialist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
“Certainly in the Cave Creek area, there are more mines there now than there ever were caves,” he said.
Of the 28 species of bats in Arizona, about half of them inhabit mines. In addition, at least one species — the California leaf-nosed bat — uses mines exclusively for mating and to raise their young.
Complete Article: www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=72719
By Shanna Hogan
August 28, 2006
Abandoned mine shafts scar the hillsides of the 38-acre Phoenix Mine site north of Cave Creek, lending a glimpse of the area’s mining past. To preserve that history, a visitors center, parking lot and museum soon will be built on the site located within the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area. The mine shafts, which have become home to bats, rattlesnakes, mountain lions and other native wildlife, also will remain preserved.
Though old mines can be dangerous for people, animals love them. The 100,000 abandoned mines throughout Arizona have become habitats for a variety of species, like shipwrecks of the desert.
“The mine areas definitely help sustain wildlife,” said Kevin Smith, interpretive ranger for the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area. “Bats especially, but other animals like javelinas, bobcats, snakes and pack rats use them, too.”
For bats, the mines not only have boosted their population, but helped it prosper.
Many of the caves that bats normally would occupy have been taken over by humans and used for activities like recreation and tourism, said Bill Burger, a nongame specialist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
“Certainly in the Cave Creek area, there are more mines there now than there ever were caves,” he said.
Of the 28 species of bats in Arizona, about half of them inhabit mines. In addition, at least one species — the California leaf-nosed bat — uses mines exclusively for mating and to raise their young.
Complete Article: www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=72719