Carlsbad Cavers - part 2

Dan and Joey in the Big Room. There were stalactite, stalagmite, curtain and drape types of formations in this room. There was also a rope in the center of the room attached 250 feet above to another area called the Spirit Room. We weren't able to attempt the climb due to the rules that required us to stay on the trail.

While the outside temperature was well over 105 on the surface, the cavern was a frigid 56 degrees. Dan kindly reminded me that shivering burns calories but still thought we were wimps to be chilly at all. Joey's quote? "Scary, cold and interesting all at the same time."

Tonight at 7:15pm we went back to the cave to wait for the bats to make their flight out of the cave. We waited for about 45 minutes and learned a ton of facts about the Mexican Free-Tail bat from the Park Ranger hosting the free event. For instance, the Mexican Free-Tail bat weighs only as much as 3 nickels and are about the length of your thumb. The bats travel back to Carlsbad Cavern from their migratory Central/South America locations in the spring of each year. The mothers arrive pregnant and give birth in the cave to babies that weigh 1/4 as much as they themselves do. Each night the bats leave the cave to hunt for insects and often eat their body weight in bugs. They return to the cave when they are full (or around morning time) depending on their success at the hunt. Natural predators for the bats are owls, wolves/coyotes and snakes. We learned tons more, but I won't bore you any further.

Watching the bats leave the cave was a spectacular and beautiful sight. The cave swallows, considered the daytime counterpart to the bat as they feed on insects as well, all but disappear once the bats start to exit the cave and their chirping ceases. The bats, moving by echolocation, are completely silent when they fly. We were able to enjoy them for about 30 minutes before it became too dark to really see anything. It was a phenomenal experience that the three of us enjoyed. God's creation to be glorified for sure!

Photographing the bat flight is strictly prohibited, so no pictures on that... but a site well worth seeing should you ever get the opportunity.

Tomorrow we travel to Dallas, TX and since the boys are asleep on either side of me, I bid you nighty night!