MAMMALS
Bat-friendly Cave Gate Installed at Boone’s Cave by Katherine Etchison, Mammalogist
A n important bat cave is now outfitted with a bat-friendly gate, which will allow bats to freely enter and exit the cave, while preventing unauthorized human access. Boone’s Cave in Davidson County is one of a handful of caves known in the Piedmont and is used by tricolored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) as a hibernaculum each winter. The tricolored bat has undergone substantial popula- tion declines resulting from White-nose Syndrome (WNS) in parts of its range and is proposed to be listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Because Boone’s Cave is a key site for tri- colored bats, funding was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through a White-nose Syndrome Grants to States and Tribes program to provide protections for bats in this cave. Boone’s Cave receives frequent visitation due to its location along a popular trail in a Davidson County park, which can have negative effects on hibernating bats. Bats in hibernation regulate their body temperatures based on ambient temperatures in the hibernacula, so humans entering a cave can bring bats out of hibernation by heating up the space with their body heat. Arous-
ing from hibernation has a high energetic cost for bats, resulting in lower fat reserves which must last through winter until insect prey become available in Spring. Additionally, the fungal patho- gen responsible for WNS was detected in Boone’s Cave in 2022 and bats suffering from WNS tend to arouse more frequently and burn through fat reserves more quickly than healthy bats, so repeated human visits to the cave could have dire consequences for these bats. The NCWRC worked with the Davidson County Parks and Recreation Department and a cave gate fabricator to provide increased protections for bats hibernating in the cave by prevent- ing access to the primary area where bats hibernate, while allow- ing public visitation in the front room of the cave. This cave is a major draw to the county park of its namesake, so continuing partial visitation of the cave was an objective of this project. The NCWRC will continue biennial winter surveys of this cave and we hope the cave gate protections will have a significant impact on survival of these WNS-affected bats.
KATHERINE ETCHISON/NCWRC
KATHERINE ETCHISON/NCWRC
KATHERINE ETCHISON/NCWRC
Above left: Land Conservation Biologist, Brooke Massa, and Western Piedmont Habitat Conservation Coordinator, Olivia Munzer carry angled iron to Boone’s Cave. Center: View of Boone’s Cave with bat-friendly gate installed. Right: A tricolored bat hibernating in Boone’s Cave.
50 2024 Wildlife Diversity Program Annual Report
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