Caving Safely
Caving: "Coming back alive!" - Continued
The world's smallest mammal is the bumblebee bat of Thailand, weighing less than a penny! Giant flying foxes that live in Indonesia have wingspans of nearly six feet. The common little brown bat of North America is the world's longest-lived mammal for its size, with life spans sometimes exceeding 32 years. Mexican free-tailed bats sometimes fly up to two miles high to feed or to catch tailwinds that carry them over long distances at speeds of more than 60 miles per hour. Fishing bats have echolocation so sophisticated that they can detect a minnow's fin as fine as a human hair, protruding only two millimeters above a pond's surface. African heart-nosed bats can hear the footsteps of a beetle walking on sand from a distance of more than six feet. Red bats, which live in tree foliage throughout most of North America, can withstand body temperatures as low as 23° F. during winter hibernation. Tiny woolly bats of West Africa live in the large webs of colonial spiders. Vampire bats adopt orphans and have been known to risk their lives to share food with less fortunate roost-mates. Mother Mexican free-tailed bats find and nurse their own young, even in huge colonies where many millions of babies cluster at up to 500 bats per square foot! Bats are truly amazing! Bats are exceptionally vulnerable to extinction, in part because they are the slowest reproducing mammals on earth for their size. Most only produce one young a year. Nearly 40% of American bat species are threatened or endangered. Please, do not disturb bats while caving.
Caving can be similar to most other outdoor activities like hiking, climbing, swimming, etc.. It depends upon what challenges the particular cave has to offer. The major difference between caving and these other activities is DARKNESS. A wild cave is totally void of all light. This means that you have to provide your own light. The difference between a wild cave and a commercial cave is a commercial cave is open to the public and has a lighting system, sidewalks or trails, and is inspected for safety. A wild cave, on the other hand, does not have any lights (you have to provide your own) and can be unsafe. NEVER cave alone. Always let someone know where you are going and when you will be back.
Caves can have varied ceiling heights and the floor can be smooth, pit-filled, slope up or down, lined with little rocks, piled with big boulders, etc.. You will be required to crawl or squeeze through some restrictions. You will possibly get muddy and wet. Expect to get wet...or at least your feet wet. Most caves in Indiana have a stream or pools in them. You will definitely "trash out" your clothes and footwear.
The temperature in caves is around 55° F. year-around. This is plenty warm enough when you're exerting yourself, but can be chilling if you stop moving for more than 10 minutes or so, and can even lead to hypothermia over extended periods of inactivity.
