Post by Sharon Faulkner on Sept 29, 2006 7:38:47 GMT -5
Bats Make a Move
September 29, 2006
By Michael Van Cassell
Parks and Monuments have the tricky task of balancing visitor access with protecting the wildlife and landscapes those visitors wish to see.
Pinnacles National Monument had an unfortunate firsthand experience Labor Day weekend when a maternity colony of Townsend's Big-eared Bats moved from their normal nursery area in the Bear Gulch Cave, which is closed to public access, to a lower cave open to visitors. Park officials are not sure what caused the disturbance. However, Pinnacles Wildlife Biologist Jim Peterson suspects a park visitor may have cut through fencing and entered the bat cave.
Green fencing around the site restricts access to the upper chamber of the cave where the maternity colony roosts and protects their newborn pups. There are also heavy steel gates to close off visitor access from the lower cave to the upper cave. "It's hard to say because there were some green sections that had been cut," Peterson said.
Park officials want to continue to keep areas of the tallus cave, a boulder filled gulch with many crevices, openings and caves, open to the public, but are concerned about the health of the bat colony. "We could have closed the entire cave and said 'forget it,'" said Paul Johnson, a Pinnacles wildlife biologist. "But we didn't. We're letting them in as much as we can."
If disturbed, mother bats may abandon their pups and leave the cave entirely, Johnson said. This would be detrimental to the park's efforts to build and sustain the Townsend's Big-eared Bat colony's population.
Townsend's Big-eared Bats often seek out mines and caves with only two openings for hibernation, breeding and roosting. However, the creatures prefer the Bear Gulch Cave because it is cold in the winter and hot in the summer, Johnson said. Park officials discovered the bats only a decade ago.
When the roosting season ends and the bats leave the cave in October, the public will have access to the entire cave system. Access will again be restricted when the bats return for the winter to hibernate in what is called the hibernaculum.
Full Article: hollisterfreelance.com/news/contentview.asp?c=196010
September 29, 2006
By Michael Van Cassell
Parks and Monuments have the tricky task of balancing visitor access with protecting the wildlife and landscapes those visitors wish to see.
Pinnacles National Monument had an unfortunate firsthand experience Labor Day weekend when a maternity colony of Townsend's Big-eared Bats moved from their normal nursery area in the Bear Gulch Cave, which is closed to public access, to a lower cave open to visitors. Park officials are not sure what caused the disturbance. However, Pinnacles Wildlife Biologist Jim Peterson suspects a park visitor may have cut through fencing and entered the bat cave.
Green fencing around the site restricts access to the upper chamber of the cave where the maternity colony roosts and protects their newborn pups. There are also heavy steel gates to close off visitor access from the lower cave to the upper cave. "It's hard to say because there were some green sections that had been cut," Peterson said.
Park officials want to continue to keep areas of the tallus cave, a boulder filled gulch with many crevices, openings and caves, open to the public, but are concerned about the health of the bat colony. "We could have closed the entire cave and said 'forget it,'" said Paul Johnson, a Pinnacles wildlife biologist. "But we didn't. We're letting them in as much as we can."
If disturbed, mother bats may abandon their pups and leave the cave entirely, Johnson said. This would be detrimental to the park's efforts to build and sustain the Townsend's Big-eared Bat colony's population.
Townsend's Big-eared Bats often seek out mines and caves with only two openings for hibernation, breeding and roosting. However, the creatures prefer the Bear Gulch Cave because it is cold in the winter and hot in the summer, Johnson said. Park officials discovered the bats only a decade ago.
When the roosting season ends and the bats leave the cave in October, the public will have access to the entire cave system. Access will again be restricted when the bats return for the winter to hibernate in what is called the hibernaculum.
Full Article: hollisterfreelance.com/news/contentview.asp?c=196010