[Texascavers] RE: ICS - personal observations - part 4

[Minton, Mark]

  David Locklear said:
 
>Aimie Beveridge and Allen Cobb were awarded the prestigious NSS Fellows award, 
>which I think entitles them to a free life-time NSS membership.

  NSS Fellows do not receive life membership.  They get a certificate:  
.
 
>I know I am leaving somebody out.Mark Minton ??Exploration Award ??

  I won the Lew Bicking Award.  No life membership for that either.  ;-)
 
Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: getting a ride to ICS for Kasia Biernacka from Poland

[Minton, Mark]

Bill and Kasia,


if you know that there is going to be a shuttle service (for example from San 
Antonio Airport to ICS) that would be useful to know what their schedule would 
be and where people would have to meet them.


 There is indeed shuttle service provided from the San Antonio airport to 
ICS on Saturday (I'm taking it earlier in the day).  Note that this service is 
available _only_ from San Antonio, not from Austin or any other airport.  It's 
a bit late to be setting it up, but as far as I know it is being arranged on a 
custom basis depending upon when people's planes arrive.  Here's the 
information that was sent out back in June:


Many of you are planning to fly into the San Antonio International Airport and 
then travel to Kerrville. The ICS will provide free transportation from the 
airport to Kerrville on 18-19 July and from Kerrville to the airport on 26-27 
July. To reserve transportation, please contact our Airport Committee at 
airp...@ics2009.us and send your flight information and arrival times. If you 
are traveling with your family, provide each person's name. If you are arriving 
by train, we encourage you to take a taxi to the airport to join the free ICS 
shuttle. All requests must be received by 7 July 2009. Requests after that date 
will be filled only if there is space available. Please contact our Airport 
Committee soon.


 As you can see, the deadline has passed, but if they're already planning 
to go to the airport that night and there is room, Kasia should be able to get 
a ride.  Good luck!

Mark Minton



From: Mixon Bill
Sent: Tue 7/14/2009 7:07 PM
To: Cavers Texas
Subject: [Texascavers] Fwd: getting a ride to ICS for kasia Biernacka from 
Poland


Forwarded by Mixon:

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bill Stone 
List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com
Date: July 14, 2009 3:49:08 PM CDT
To: Mixon Bill 
Subject: getting a ride to ICS for kasia Biernacka from Poland

Bill -

Got any ideas on how to handle this:

Kasia Biernacka (Marcin Gala's wife from Poland) will be arriving in
Austin at 9pm on Saturday and she needs a ride to ICS in time for
the 9am Sunday meeting of the executive session (she carries a vote
from Poland).   We are trying to connect her up with someone.

I have offered to pick her up at the airport but Vickie and I will not
be leaving until around 4pm on Sunday due to work requirements here.

Alternatively, if you know that there is going to be a shuttle service
(for example from San Antonio Airport to ICS) that would be useful to
know what their schedule would be and where people would have to
meet them.

Ideas appreciated.

Bill

Bill Stone, Ph.D., P.E.
Stone Aerospace / PSC, Inc.
3511 Caldwell Lane
Del Valle, TX 78617-3006
Ph: (512) 247-6385 (land line)
Ph: (240) 678-5332 (cell)
email: bill.st...@stoneaerospace.com
website:  www.stoneaerospace.com
Skype: william.stone.texas





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[Texascavers] Extraordinary Bat Nose

[Minton, Mark]

  Interesting article about a bat with an usually large nose:  .  Coincidentally, this article also mentions bat robots, but they're apparently not the same as the one I posted recently.
 
Mark Minton
 

Team led by Virginia Tech associate professor solves mystery of bat with an extraordinary nose
By Steven Mackay
 
BLACKSBURG, Va., July 9, 2009 -- A research paper co-written by a Virginia Tech faculty member explains a 60-year mystery behind a rare bat's nose that is unusually large for its species.
 
The findings soon will be published in the scientific trade journal, Physical Review Letters.
 
The article, “Acoustic effects accurately predict an extreme case of biological morphology,” details the adult Bourret’s horseshoe bat (known scientifically as the “Rhinolophus paradoxolophus” meaning paradoxical crest), and it’s roughly 9 millimeters in length nose. The typical horseshoe bat’s nose is half that amount, said Rolf Mueller, an associate professor with the Virginia Tech mechanical engineering department and director for the Bio-inspired Technology (BIT) Laboratory in Danville, Va. “This nose is so much larger than anything else,” among other bats of the region, he said.
 
Mueller’s findings show that the bat uses its elongated nose to create a highly focused sonar beam. Bats detect their environment through ultrasonic beams, or sonar, emitted from their noses, as in the case of the paradoxolophus bat, or mouth. The return bounces – echoes – of the sound wave convey a wealth of information on objects in the bat’s environment. From the remote rainforests of South East Asia, this bat received its name 58 years ago because of its mysterious trait.
 
Much like a flashlight with an adjuster that can create an intense but small beam of light, the bat’s nose can create a small but intense sonar spotlight. Mueller and his team used computer animation to compare varying sizes of bat noses, from small noses on other bats to the large nose of the paradoxolophus bat. In what Mueller calls a perfect mark of evolution, he says his computer modeling shows the length of the paradoxolophus bat’s nose stops at the exact point the sonar beam’s focal point would become ineffective.
 
Mueller worked on the study with engineers and scientists from China’s Shandong University, where he held a professorship when the research project began, and the Vietnamese Academy of Sciences. The article also will appear on Physical Review Letters’ print edition July 17 and the website July 14.
 
“By predicting the width of the ultrasonic beam for each of these nose lengths with a computational method, we found that the natural nose length has a special value: All shortened noses provided less focus of the ultrasonic beam, whereas artificially elongated noses provided only negligible additional benefits,” Mueller said. “Hence, this unusual case of a biological shape can be predicted accurately from its physical function alone.”
 
The findings with the paradoxolophus bat are part of a larger study of approximately 120 different bat species and how they use sonar to perceive their environment. Set to finish in February 2010, it is hoped the study’s focus on wave-based sensing and communication in bats will help spur groundwork for innovations in cell phone and satellite communications, as well as naval surveillance technology.
 
Mueller has focused much of his research career in bio-inspired technology studying bats. He received a Ph.D. in 1998 at the University of Tuebingen, Germany, where he developed computational models for the biosonar system of bats. During postdoctoral research at Yale University, he worked on biosonar-inspired autonomous robots and statistical signal processing methods in natural outdoor environments. In 2000, he returned to Tuebingen University, where he built a lab to develop robots inspired by bats. In 2003, he joined The Maersk Institute of Production Technology at the University of Southern Denmark as an assistant professor, followed by a professorship at Shandong University. He joined the Virginia Tech faculty in 2008.
 
IMAGE INFORMATION: The noseleaf of a typical horseshoe bat species (left) versus that of Bourret’s horseshoe bat, the Rhinolophus paradoxolophus (right).
 
Contact Steven Mackay at smac...@vt.edu or (540) 231-4787.

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[NMCAVER] ***SPAM*** Latest WNS Info

[Minton, Mark]

  There is a long post by Peter Youngbaer on CaveChat concerning the current state of WNS research and intervention at 
  Note that there will be a WNS session at the ICS/NSS on Thursday afternoon.
 
Mark Minton
 
 
Re: Fungus serious threat to NE bats
by PYoungbaer Jul 7, 2009 5:48 pm
 
I think it's time to change the title of this subforum to "Fungus serious threat to North American Bats." It's also time to recognize that we are moving rapidly from a collective ad hoc response to WNS, to a more focused and sustained effort to contain, and perhaps eradicate WNS, although whether either is achievable is still very much in doubt.WNS has clearly gone beyond the northeast, with all signs that it will spread farther this coming winter, and cause increased bat mortalities in the areas it reached this year.We also now have the largest documented decline in North American wildlife in a century. Not since the demise of the passenger pigeon has such devastation been seen. The possibility of species extinction is very real. The impact on the ecosystem of removing the primary nocturnal insectivore is hard to imagine.Is this hyperbole? Perhaps hard to imagine in TAG or the far west, ponder this: this summer, the state of New York is running nighttime acoustical bat surveys. With over 100 regular routes, dozens of volunteers - including especially many northeastern cavers who have worked on WNS for the past two years - have had their cars equipped by NYDEC with crazy roof anntennae and acoustical monitoring equipment. Then, heading out at the breakneck speed of 18 MPH (the flight speed of a big brown bat), they record bat calls. In the eastern half of the state, where NY's karst regions dominate, evidence of the little brown bats and other myotis (Indiana, long-eared, small footed) is hard to find. These bats are simply, for the most part, gone.It also appears correct that it is the fungus that is the threat. In the various meetings I've attended with the scientists and wildlife managers working on WNS - including the recent science strategy meeting in Austin, Texas, and last week's National Institute of Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) at the University of Tennessee, the fungus Geomyces destructans is clearly implicated as the cause of WNS. There is no evidence to date to implicate bacteria, parasites, viruses, environmental toxins, microwaves, or global warming. While scientists are loathe to declare absolutes, there simply is no other plausible explanation. They are also now calling it a disease.The spread of WNS has followed a typical infectious disease pattern - emanating from an epicenter. This pattern is also consistent with what has now been shown in the laboratory - that it is transmitted bat to bat. While possible that humans have aided in spreading WNS (including possibly bringing it here from Europe in a "perfect storm" of events), the documented spread is consistent with the known flight patterns and ranges of the affected bat species. With that in mind, there is a noticeable shift in emphasis within the science and management communities on focusing on the most plausible cause and managing it.This means we are more likely to see more intense and focused efforts on the WNS "front." These would be the areas ranging out about 250 miles from the known sites. Bats in these caves and mines are most susceptible. If strong intervention measures are applied, it is at these sites that the effort to contain WNS will find its strongest advocates.USFWS is currently going through something called Structured Decision Making (SDM), examining a range of intervention options for this front zone. They range from doing nothing, to full eradication of bats. This could be wide-ranging or site-specific. Other options include sealing caves and mines, or application of fungicides. This, in an attempt to stop and contain WNS before it reaches other areas of the country or the ranges and habitats of other species.Of immediate concern is the Virginia long-eared bat and the Grey bat. Indianas also remain of high concern, but on many more fronts. A design for a captive breeding colony of Virginia long eareds has been prepared in a last-ditch effort to save the species. Debate is raging about whether the time to pull the trigger on that strategy has come. Some say it may be too late, that if WNS has a significant latency period - maybe a year or more, then the colonies may already be affected, and putting them into a captive colony is doomed. Without a good histopathological diagnostic tool, that risk may need to be taken - sooner, rather than later. That tool is being worked on by the people in Madison, Wisconsin, but it may not come in time for this species. That's the immediate fear.Up until now, trying to manage and contain WNS has been with broad - and, yes, crude - tools, such as cave closures and decontamination protocols. I fully expect that the approach will become more nuanced - especially if we are succ

[Texascavers] Robo-Bats

[Minton, Mark]

 
Mark Minton
 

Robo-bats to fly using fast-twitch "muscles"
 
July 7, 2009Tiny flying machines can be used for everything from indoor surveillance to exploring collapsed buildings, but simply making smaller versions of planes and helicopters doesn't work very well. Instead, researchers at North Carolina State Univ. are mimicking nature's small flyers—and developing robotic bats that offer increased maneuverability and performance.
 Small flyers, or micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs), have garnered a great deal of interest due to their potential applications where maneuverability in tight spaces is necessary, says researcher Gheorghe Bunget. For example, Bunget says, "due to the availability of small sensors, MAVs can be used for detection missions of biological, chemical and nuclear agents." But, due to their size, devices using a traditional fixed-wing or rotary-wing design have low maneuverability and aerodynamic efficiency. So Bunget, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering at NC State, and his advisor Dr. Stefan Seelecke looked to nature. "We are trying to mimic nature as closely as possible," Seelecke says, "because it is very efficient. And, at the MAV scale, nature tells us that flapping flight—like that of the bat—is the most effective."The researchers did extensive analysis of bats' skeletal and muscular systems before developing a "robo-bat" skeleton using rapid prototyping technologies. The fully assembled skeleton rests easily in the palm of your hand and, at less than 6 grams, feels as light as a feather. The researchers are currently completing fabrication and assembly of the joints, muscular system and wing membrane for the robo-bat, which should allow it to fly with the same efficient flapping motion used by real bats."The key concept here is the use of smart materials," Seelecke says. "We are using a shape-memory metal alloy that is super-elastic for the joints. The material provides a full range of motion, but will always return to its original position—a function performed by many tiny bones, cartilage and tendons in real bats."Seelecke explains that the research team is also using smart materials for the muscular system. "We're using an alloy that responds to the heat from an electric current. That heat actuates micro-scale wires the size of a human hair, making them contract like 'metal muscles.' During the contraction, the powerful muscle wires also change their electric resistance, which can be easily measured, thus providing simultaneous action and sensory input. This dual functionality will help cut down on the robo-bat's weight, and allow the robot to respond quickly to changing conditions—such as a gust of wind—as perfectly as a real bat."In addition to creating a surveillance tool with very real practical applications, Seelecke says the robo-bat could also help expand our understanding of aerodynamics. "It will allow us to do tests where we can control all of the variables—and finally give us the opportunity to fully understand the aerodynamics of flapping flight," Seelecke says. SOURCE: North Carolina State University

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[Texascavers] RE: cave scorpions

[Minton, Mark]

Matthew,

  David Locklear forwarded your message about cave scorpions.

>So I am curious, how many of you have discovered scorpions while spelunking?
>If you have ever found a cave scorpion I would love to hear about it.

  Surface (not cave-adapted) scorpions are pretty common in the entrance 
areas of some Texas caves.  Troglobitic scorpions are of course much less 
common, although several are known from Mexico.  One of the AMCS publications 
describes a new species from Mexico:  .  
We have seen large numbers of this Alacran tartarus in a sump at a depth of 
over 600 m below the nearest entrance in Sistema Huautla in Oaxaca, Mexico!

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: Online PDF File of Excellent Book on Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks

[Minton, Mark]

>For his Classification of Carbonates into 11 types, he is considered a God by 
>cavers.

  The book mentioned in the title was not specifically referenced in Ron's 
email, but I presume it is this one:  
.
 
Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: J2 expedition results

[Minton, Mark]

 Bill Mixon said:


From Mark Minton, who has massaged the data from the recent J2 expediton to 
Huautla


 Slight correction.  J2 is not in Huautla, but across the river to the 
south in the Cheve area.  :-)

Mark Minton

[NMCAVER] ***SPAM*** Bats' Fountain of Youth

[Minton, Mark]

  Bats may hold the key to longer life.  
 

Mark Minton
 
Do bats hold the "Fountain the Youth"?
 
July 1, 2009Scientists from Texas are batty over a new discovery which could lead to the single most important medical breakthrough in human history—significantly longer lifespans. The discovery, featured on the cover of the July 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal shows that proper protein folding over time in long-lived bats explains why they live significantly longer than other mammals of comparable size, such as mice."Ultimately we are trying to discover what underlying mechanisms allow for some animal species to live a very long time with the hope that we might be able to develop therapies that allow people to age more slowly," said Asish Chaudhuri, Professor of Biochemistry, VA Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas and the senior researcher involved in the work. Asish and colleagues made their discovery by extracting proteins from the livers of two long-lived bat species (Tadarida brasiliensis and Myotis velifer) and young adult mice and exposed them to chemicals known to cause protein misfolding. After examining the proteins, the scientists found that the bat proteins exhibited less damage than those of the mice, indicating that bats have a mechanism for maintaining proper structure under extreme stress."Maybe Juan Ponce De León wasn't too far off the mark when he searched Florida for the Fountain of Youth," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "As it turns out, one of these bat species lives out its long life in Florida. Since bats are rodents with wings, this chemical clue as to why bats beat out mice in the aging game should point scientists to the source of this elusive fountain."Study Abstract SOURCE: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

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[NMCAVER] ***SPAM*** Bats and WNS on Fox News

[Minton, Mark]

  Earlier this week Fox News had a report about bats, how beneficial they are, and about White Nose Syndrome.  See it at .  Accompanying the video is a machine-generated transcript which is even worse than machine translations of written text.  It is obvious their speech-recognition software has a long way to go.  One amusing tidbit:  it transcribed "insects" as "in sex".
 
Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: Texas in summertime: rattlesnakes

[Minton, Mark]

  Louise Power said:

>I didn't see water moccasins, Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma (aka 
>cottonmouths), on the list and can't remember whether they live in Central 
>Texas and West Texas or not.

  Water moccasins definitely live in Honey Creek.  I've seen a couple of 
them in pools downstream from the cave.  I've never seen one in the pool right 
outside the spring entrance to the cave, but I sure wouldn't be surprised if 
they live there.  Use caution when swimming!

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] Caves on Mars

[Minton, Mark]

  There is a new review on the use of lava tubes on earth as models for caves on Mars in the journal Planetary and Space Science:  
 
Mark Minton
 

Lava tubes and basaltic caves as astrobiological targets on Earth and Mars: A review
 
Richard J. Léveillé and Saugata Datta
 

Abstract



Lava tubes and basaltic caves are common features in volcanic terrains on Earth. Lava tubes and cave-like features have also been identified on Mars based on orbital imagery and remote-sensing data. Caves are unique environments where both secondary mineral precipitation and microbial growth are enhanced by stable physico-chemical conditions. Thus, they represent excellent locations where traces of microbial life, or biosignatures, are formed and preserved in minerals. By analogy with terrestrial caves, caves on Mars may contain a record of secondary mineralization that would inform us on past aqueous activity. They may also represent the best locations to search for biosignatures. The study of caves on Earth can be used to test hypotheses and better understand biogeochemical processes, and the signatures that these processes leave in mineral deposits. Caves may also serve as test beds for the development of exploration strategies and novel technologies for future missions to Mars. Here we review recent evidence for the presence of caves or lava tubes on Mars, as well as the geomicrobiology of lava tubes and basaltic caves on Earth. We also propose future lines of investigation, including exploration strategies and relevant technologies.

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[Texascavers] RE: Gold mines in Texas

[Minton, Mark]

  John Brooks said:

>In southern Oklahoma (north of here, in case you were wondering)there 
>are legends of someone absconding with 20 "jackloads" of gold

  Hmm, that is suspiciously similar to some of the legends of the lost 
Bowie Mine around Menard.  (What's a jackload?  Probably something that a mule 
could carry.  See 
.)
  Texas cavers used to have access to a cave called Silver Mine quite close to 
Powell's.  They are hydrologically related but so far not physically connected. 
 Silver Mine has several entrances, most of which are artificial shafts sunk 
into the natural cave.  At one time they had actually disassembled a bulldozer, 
taken it down a shaft, and reassembled it in the cave to move fill around in 
search of gold.  I've seen it, and it's ptrobably still there.  They never 
found anything, but someone sunk a lot of money into looking.  That cave still 
has good leads, and sits in a strategic position between Powell's and the 
rumored "Meteor Crater" which was a collapse feature into a stream passage that 
has since filled in.  I spent a lot of time at Silver Mine with William 
Russell, Jerry Atkinson and others in the '80's.  That would be a nice cave to 
get back into.  You can see a composite line plot in "50 Years of Texas Caving" 
at .

  There are also several pages devoted to treasure hunting in Texas caves 
in "Natural History of Texas Caves" by Lundelius and Slaughter (1971), 
including the San Saba and Bowie stories.  Here's another source of Texas 
treasure legends:  .

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: camping at ICS ?

[Minton, Mark]

Bob,

>I still have one a/c cabin at shriner park would anyone like to rent it for 
>the week 16th-26th contact me asap before i turn it back to the park for other 
>folks.

  How much does it cost?  How many bedrooms are there?  Thanks!

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: Boot toe guard repair

[Minton, Mark]

 Preston Forsythe said:


Buy a pair of Bata Boots. Indestructible toes.


 Regular Bata boots without the steel toe do have very good toes and indeed 
last a long time, especially in water where other types of boots tend to fall 
apart quickly (think Honey Creek).  However I would not get Bata boots, or any 
others for that matter, with steel toes.  You do not need a steel toe for 
caving, it makes the boots heavier, and most importantly, the hard steel toe 
causes the outside toe material of the boot to wear much more quickly.  I think 
this is because the steel toe cap prevents the toe of the boot from flexing the 
way it otherwise would, so the toe gets abraded much more rapidly when dragged 
over rock surfaces.  If a hole develops in the outer shoe material above a 
steel toe you can try to fill it with Shoe Goo or the like, but in my 
experience this never works for long.  Eventually the toe hole will grow so big 
that the steel cap falls out, and then the boots are shot.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] Re: cave/cavern questions for book

[Minton, Mark]

 Fofo said:


1. In a long tunnel -  c. 6' wide x c. 8' high; about a quarter of a mile in 
length - can a sensitive person detect changes in air pressure, humidity, and 
smells, the deeper in and down you travel in this tunnel?



The pressure gradient in the atmosphere is not big enough to feel it when 
merely walking through a passage and getting deeper into a cave. Changes in 
humidity and smell, yes, you can feel those (but they are not necessarily 
related to changes in depth).


 Actually one can detect changes in air pressure in a cave if one descends 
rapidly enough.  I have had my ears pop when rappelling down one drop after 
another in a deep cave where the drops are close together and already rigged.  
It is rare, though, and the cave has to be quite deep (hundreds of meters) and 
the person moving rapidly.  Merely walking would not get one deep fast enough 
to feel the effects of pressure, as Fofo said.  Also as Fofo said, humidity and 
odors definitely change, most often as one approaches an entrance from inside 
when the air flow is moving into the cave.  We call it 'smelling outside' and 
it is most noticeable after a long trip.


2.  Can you feel air moving in such a long tunnel that leads to an air shaft?



Yes -- if there's air movement. That is, a tunnel leading to a pit open to the 
surface doesn't necessarily have airflow through it.


 In order to have good air flow through a tunnel, it generally has to have 
two openings to the outside at different elevations.  These openings can be 
either vertical or horizontal.  The greater the difference in elevation, the 
larger the air flow.  In favorable cases it is possible to feel a breeze on 
one's face.  And if such a passage comes to a constriction, the air movement 
can be dramatic.  It can blow strongly enough to blow out a carbide lamp flame, 
for example.


3.  If you hover over an air shaft on the surface, can you feel/detect air 
movement going in or out?



Yes (again, if there is air movement).


 In favorable cases the air movement at an entrance can be quite dramatic.  
Not only can one feel the breeze, but it can cause plants to move in the wind, 
and small bits of debris can be blown out when tossed in.  This is by far more 
noticeable when the air is blowing out rather than in.


4.  If you are in a cave, tunnel, or cavern for up to three days, do you lose 
track of time?  Could a person go to sleep for several hours and wake up, 
thinking it must be morning?



Yes, because you lack any indication of whether or not it is day or night. Without 
watches and in a cave, people tend to still adopt a roughly 24-hr cycle, of about 12 hrs 
or activity/12 hrs of rest, but the "day" _could_ start at, say, 3 am, and 
since you don't have anything to tell you that, you go happily about your business.


 Actually, during extended stays underground we have found that one's days 
tend to become quite extended.  It is not uncommon for one to be active for 18 
to 24 hours and then to sleep for 12 to 20 hours.  As Fofo said, there are no 
external cues, so the body adopts its own schedule.  This is particularly 
noticeable on longer cave camps, where 5 days worth of food may last for 7 or 8 
surface days, because the in-cave days have been extended.


5.   What significant developments can a person experience in long term caving?



I'm not sure I understand the question.


 I agree.  We need more details about what you're after.  There have been 
psychological studies of people who spent months at a time in a cave.  
Frenchman Michel Siffre is probably the most well known and studied.  You'll 
get lots of hits if you Google his name.  And of course the experiences of 
long-term cavers are hugely varied, but most center on the community and the 
experiences of exploring in an unusual and little-known environment.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: camping at ICS ?

[Minton, Mark]

  David Locklear said:

>In Lake City, we had a huge tree that nearly every caver was able to set up 
>their tent around, and that was one of the things that saved the convention 
>from the low attendance.

  That doesn't make sense.  (Should I be surprised?)  Most cavers wouldn't 
have known about the big tree until they got there.  And how many people would 
go to a convention just because it had a nice tree in the campground?  In fact, 
I think the Florida convention did have low attendance.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] More on WNS

[Minton, Mark]

  The following is excerpted from a rather lengthy report of conversations BCCS member and USGS geologist Chris Swezey had with David Blehert, a USGS microbiologist working on the White Nose fungus.  I found it to be quite interesting.  Part of it is now out of date, since the scientific description of the fungus has just been published.  The attached article that is mentioned is Science v. 323, p. 227 (2009).
 
Mark Minton
 
 
>I would like to communicate some information that I have gleaned during the past several days from telephone conversations with Dr. David S. Blehert, a USGS microbiologist who is working with a bat ecologist named Paul Cryan on White Nose Syndrome (WNS).  David Blehert lives and works in Madison (Wisconsin), he is the person who first identified the fungus that is associated with WNS, and he has published his results in two scientific articles (which I shall attach at the bottom of this email message). >>From my conversations with David Blehert, it appears to me that he is not a caver and he is not fully aware of all of the issues that concern cavers, but he is in contact with NSS folks (he mentioned Peter Youngbaer, specifically) and he is very appreciative of the assistance that he has received from cavers.  David is an extremely articulate scientist, and on 4 June 2009 he testified before the U.S. Congress on the White Nose Syndrome problem that is afflicting bats.  He is also an extremely cautious person scientifically, and is very careful to separate observations from interpretations and conclusions.  He is also working very hard to understand the WNS problem. >So, some information that David Blehert communicated to me: (1) The first evidence of bat WNS was documented at Howes Cave, 52 km west of Albany, New York, on 16 February 2006.  Howes Cave is a commercial cave that is visited by many people. (2) Bats afflicted during the winter by WNS show a tendency to shift to colder roost sites, such as cave entrances, and they exhibit erratic behavior such as flying around outside during the daytime in winter.  In 2006-2007, many of these bats exhibiting erratic behavior in New York were tested for rabies, and no bat tested positive for rabies. (3) So far, WNS appears to be a condition that affects only bats that hibernate in groups. (4) David Blehert performed autopsies on WNS affected bats, but he did not find any problems with bat internal organs.  Furthermore, with the afflicted bats, he was not able to identify any disease-causing parasites, any known viral pathogens, or any bacteriological problems. (5) Bats normally have lots of biota on their skin, and David was able to identify several white fungi on the skin of afflicted bats.  The problem that David faced was to identify which fungus was causing the problems.  He was able to see a white fungus in the field, but was having trouble identifying the fungus in the lab.  Eventually, he was successful, and David was able to identify the culprit as a specific fungus. >What David has learned about this fungus: - The fungus has only been found where WNS is seen, and it has only been identified conclusively in the WNS-affected area in the United States. - In caves with affected bats, the fungus is seen on sick bats but not on healthy bats. - The fungus is a new species that has not been named or described before. - The fungus has spores that have an unusual hook shape. - All isolates of the fungus are identical.  Interpretation: David says that this observation suggests that the fungus has disseminated from a point source (e.g., Howes Cave). - The fungus invades the skin of bats, and attacks the skin tissues. - The fungus requires cold for growth, and does not grow at temperatures above 24 degrees C (75 degrees Fahrenheit).  At high temperatures, the fungus goes dormant. - The fungus likes high humidity. >Other than attacking skin tissue, David does not yet know all of the ways in which the fungus affects bats.  It is not known if the fungus is the primary cause of bat mortality, or if the fungus is a secondary infection that is associated with something else that is killing the bats.  However, David noted that the fungus grows on bat wings, and that bat wings are very important for flight, heat dissipation, water control, gas exchange, and blood pressure regulation. >New information not yet published: David Blehert has identified a similar white fungus with the same unusual hook shape in several European countries.  It appears that this fungus may have existed in European bat populations since the 1980s, but in Europe this fungus is not associated with unusual bat mortality.  David plans to investigate this topic further.  A working hypothesis at the moment is that the European fungus is identical to the U.S. fungus, but European bats hibernate in smaller groups and there is something specific about bat hibernating behavior in the U.S. that causes bat mortality associated with this fungus.  Again, David plans to investigate t

[Texascavers] White Nose Syndrome Fungus Named

[Minton, Mark]

  The fungus responsible for White Nose Syndrome in bats has been described as a new species and named Geomyces destructans.    There is a link to the scientific publication, which is a free download.
 
Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] FW: Bat boxes definitely work

[Minton, Mark]

Brian,

>Are there any recommended vendors or build-yourself plans for bat boxes 
>similar to the successful design mentioned by Marylou?

  BCI would probably be your best bet for more info.

Mark

[Texascavers] FW: Bat boxes definitely work

[Minton, Mark]

  Here is a reply I got about bat houses.

Mark Minton



From: marylou_schn...@or.blm.gov
Sent: Wed 6/10/2009 8:00 PM
To: mmin...@nmhu.edu
Cc: louise_po...@blm.gov
Subject: Bat boxes definitely work


M Minton,
Someone forwarded to me your email that asked if bat boxes work.  When
properly placed, they seem very attractive to bats.  I did a study a few
yrs ago comparing different bat box designs with summer-long monitoring.
However, I must admit that I went to great lengths to make these sites the
Taj Mahal of bat boxes, more than most folks would probably do:  I
constructed them to be very durable (triple coat of exterior latex, ceramic
coated screws, sheet metal roof), put predator guards on them (both aerial
& climbing predators), applied a non-toxic wasp deterrent and put them in
clearings within forested areas, such that they got solar exposure from
dawn until dusk (probably the single most important factor).

The bats largely agreed:  Of 16 that I put up, 15 were used by several bats
most days during the summer, and only one site got very little use.  Of the
15 used regularly, several were used by dozens of individuals.  Two
actually became home to nursery colonies where dozens of females gave birth
to pups.  So, yeah, bat boxes work.  When done properly.


Marylou Schnoes, Lead Wildlife Biologist
Glendale Resource Area, Medford District
Bureau of Land Management
Tel. 541.471.6616

Grants Pass Interagency Office
2164 NE Spalding
Grants Pass, Oregon 97526

[Texascavers] RE: Flares

[Minton, Mark]

  Allan Cobb said:

>I was up at the Birthday Passage in Palmito once when someone lit a magnesium 
>flare in the Hall of Giants. Spectacular does not even begin to describe it.  
>It lit up the entire cave!

  That may well have been me.  :-)  I used to take homemade flares to light 
up very large rooms like that, or to drop down deep pits.  Gave a nice view all 
the way down.  My flares were based on aluminum, though, not magnesium.

  Lyndon Tiu said:

>I wonder what the flare smoke contains? Carcinogens, CO2, CO, Ozone, etc ?

  That would depend on the flare, of course.  Typical photographic flares 
were sometimes just magnesium ribbon (which is undoubtedly what Keith Goggin 
meant, not manganese).  When that burns it gives off only magnesium oxide.  
While I wouldn't want to breathe it, it probably isn't particularly harmful.  
It would slowly react with carbon dioxide from the air and turn into magnesium 
carbonate, a component of dolomite, which some caves are formed in.  Other 
photo flares were thermite, which is a mixture of aluminum powder and iron 
oxide.  It gives off molten iron and aluminum oxide, again probably not 
terribly bad as long as you don't breathe it.  My flares were aluminum powder, 
barium nitrate, and a little sulfur to bind it all together.  The sulfur would 
produce sulfur dioxide, which is definitely not good, although it was a minor 
component of the mixture.  Common road safety flares probably have much less 
agressive chemicals in them, because they are meant to burn for a long time 
rather than being incredibly bright.  Who knows what's in them, but probably 
organic compounds that you wouldn't want to breathe.

In general, I agree with Jim Kennedy - don't do it.  It was long ago 
when I made flares, and no one thought much about the environmental 
consequences.  It was definitely not caving softly.

Mark Minton
Chemist

[Texascavers] RE: bat houses

[Minton, Mark]

  In the recent discussion of bat houses I wondered whether they were successful at attracting bats.  At least in England they are:  .
 
Mark Minton
 
 

Bat boxes 'bursting with mammals'
 
Bat boxes installed across Surrey are now bursting with the mammals, the county's wildlife trust has said.
 
Species roosting include a rare Bechstein's bat near Ockley, nine Natterer's bats near Dunsfold and a further 12 Natterer's near Elstead.
 
Surrey Wildlife Trust said the junction of the M25 and A3 dual carriageway was now home to noctule bats, brown long-eared bats and soprano pipistrelles.
 
Bats first arrived at the sites in 2007 and numbers are growing, experts said.
 
The wildlife trust is working with the Surrey Bat Group to improve habitats for bats across the county.
 
Derek Smith from Surrey Bat Group said the reserves at Thundry Meadows, near Elstead, and Fir Tree Copse, near Dunsfold, were the only sites where Natterer's bats had been found using boxes.
 
Wallis Wood, near Ockley, was the only site in Surrey where the Bechstein's bat had been discovered, he said.

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[Texascavers] Bats Recognize Each Others' Voices

[Minton, Mark]

 
Mark Minton
 
 

Bats 'recognise others' voices'
 
By Victoria GillScience reporter, BBC News
 
As if flying around in the dark swooping and diving to catch insects was not tricky enough, bats also listen for their fellow hunters.
 
A study has revealed how these winged mammals recognise other bats' voices.
 
They are able to differentiate the ultrasonic "echolocation" calls that other bats make as they navigate.
 
In the journal PLoS Computational Biology, the scientists report that the bats have an internal "reference" call to which they compare others.
 
Yossi Yovel from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and his colleagues from the University of Tuebingen in Germany recorded the echolocation calls of five greater mouse-eared bats.
 
The bats use these brief bursts of sound in sonar navigation - bouncing sound waves off their surroundings to find their way and locate prey.
 
Dr Yovel's team tested the bats' ability to identify the others by playing the recorded sounds to them.
 
"Each bat was assigned two others it had to distinguish between," Dr Yovel explained. "So we trained bat A on a platform, playing a sound from bat B on one side and from bat C on the other. He had crawl to where the 'correct' sound was coming from."
 
Each of the subjects was taught that a call from just one of the other bats was correct.
 
So during this training exercise, if the bat A made the right choice, and crawled towards the sound from bat B, it was rewarded with its favourite food - a mealworm.
 
"Then, in the next stage - the test - we rewarded them no matter what choice they made, and they still chose correctly more than 80% of the time," said Dr Yovel.
 
"So we knew the bats were able to distinguish individuals. But it wasn't clear what they're using to discriminate one from the other.
 
"If you think of this in comparison with humans, it's like being able to recognise a person just by listening to the same one-syllable yell in different voices.
 
"The bats learned the voice by listening to hundreds of very short 'yells', but they then were able to recognise an individual based on one single yell."
 
Modelling sound
 
In the second part of the study, Dr Yovel's team designed a computer model to mimic the way in which the bats compared the different sounds.
 
"The model takes all the calls the bat thought were A, and all the calls it thought were B, and tries to understand what differences it is using to match them up," said Dr Yovel.
 
"Our analysis showed that each bat has a typical distribution in the frequencies it emits, probably a result of the differences in each animal's vocal chords."
 
He thinks the bats may have an internal "prototype" - a sort of reference sound against which they can compare these subtle differences.
 This could explain how bats remain in a group when flying at high speeds in darkness, and how they avoid interference between each others' echolocation calls.

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[Texascavers] RE: bat houses

[Minton, Mark]

  David Locklear said:

>After all, bat guano poisons caves and cave water,

  It does?  Since when?

>And what evidence do we have that bats have been using caves before man scared 
>them away from their natural habitats ?
>Bats are perfectly happy living in the crevices of bridges and trees.   Right ?

  What makes you think caves are not bats' natural habitat?  I think they 
are.  Crevices in bridges certainly aren't!  The types of bats that live in 
trees are not the same ones that live in caves.

>Many people put their animals in outdoor structures.Why not do the same 
>for bats.

  Bats need a home that is warm enough in winter.  Unless you built a 
complex structure like the Chiroptorium, a simple concrete shelter would get 
too cold.

  Please stick with testing LED flashlights, and leave the bats alone!

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] PA Orders all Rescued Bats to be Destroyed

[Minton, Mark]

 
Mark Minton
 
 

Posted on Mon, Jun. 8, 2009
Pa. orders all rescued bats to be destroyed
By Amy Worden
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
 
Seeking to halt the spread of a disease ravaging bat populations in the Northeast, the Pennsylvania Game Commission laid down the law: All bats collected by wildlife rescuers - regardless of whether they were sick or injured - would have to be euthanized.
 
The order, issued in response to white-nose syndrome, a highly contagious fungal disease, came just before the busy spring season when baby bats take flight. It has angered bat advocates, who consider the Game Commission's response extreme. 
 
"It's a draconian approach," said Laura Flandreau, a volunteer from Chestnut Hill who launched a petition drive urging Gov. Rendell to persuade the commission to lift the ban. She says none of the other eight states where the disease has been found has banned rescue and release efforts. In New Jersey, she said, efforts are under way to treat infected bats in a research facility. 
 
But Game Commission officials say they issued the bat-release ban to protect thousands of bats from the fatal and, so far, untreatable disorder. 
"Given that white-nose syndrome has claimed thousands of bats, if a sick or injured bat is released, it would be adding to the problem," commission spokesman Jerry Feaser said. 
 
Concern about the economic and health costs of this fast-spreading disease prompted congressional hearings Thursday to explore the public-health, environmental, and economic implications of white-nose syndrome. The disease, which so far is found only in cave bats, has turned up in states from New Hampshire to West Virginia, decimating colonies in some areas. 
 
Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D., Guam), a member of the House subcommittee on national parks, forests and public lands, said Thursday that, left unchecked, white-nose syndrome could bring economic and ecological disaster, given the vital role hungry bats play in curbing disease-carrying insects. 
 
"Bats are nature's best control of insect populations, as a single bat can eat its entire weight in insects in one night," Bordallo said in a statement. "Their decline will likely have far-reaching ramifications for both agriculture and public health." 
 
Lisa Williams, a Game Commission biologist, said the reasons for the Pennsylvania order were many: The disease is difficult to recognize; there are no test, no treatment, and no cure; and it has spread from one bat species to another. 
 
"We are trying to slow the spreading of a disease that has been leapfrogging down the Appalachian range," she said. 
 
The disease is still confined in Pennsylvania to four counties: Lackawanna, Luzerne, Centre, and Mifflin. 
 
In New Jersey, volunteers are being sought to count the state's bats this summer. The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, which is organizing the census, says the count is crucial to determine how many bats have died from the disease. 
 
Pennsylvania and New Jersey are among 12 states that will share in $1.4 million from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study the disease, which has killed record numbers of bats in New England since 2006, in some cases wiping out 90 percent of the population colonies. The first bats tested positive for white-nose syndrome in Pennsylvania in January, and a month later dead bats were turning up by the hundreds in Lackawanna County. The goal of the research, say Game Commission officials, is to find the cause, and determine how it spreads and whether it can be contained. 
 
Members of the small bat rehabilitation community - eight people in all, licensed through the Game Commission - say the commission's euthanasia order does not consider differences in species or the threat that killing the animals could pose. Tree bats, for instance, are not known to have the disease, and other species, such as the Indiana bat, are endangered. 
 
"I don't think it's a good idea," said Deb Welter, a licensed bat rehabilitator who runs the Diamond Rock Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic in Malvern. "We are the bats' best chance, and the bats we take in are not implicated in white-nose." 
 
Game Commission officials, who have instructed the rehabilitators to euthanize the bats and ship them to Harrisburg for study, say some bats will have to be sacrificed to help find a cure. 
 

Contact staff writer Amy Worden at 717-783-2584 or awor...@phillynews.com.

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[Texascavers] RE: Prassel Ranch Cave

[Minton, Mark]

  David Locklear said:

>ICS attendees would have some muddy fun at Prassel Ranch Cave.
>You have fun "salamandering" for hours only to turn around and repeat the same 
>to get out of the cave.

  As I remember it, there was often too little water to salamander in 
Prassell Ranch Cave.  Salamandering only works if there is enough water to 
float your body above the mud, and the mud and water together are shallow 
enough to reach through to the solid floor with your hands.  That's a pretty 
limited range that just happens to occur relatively frequently in Honey Creek.  
I don't know how likely those conditions would be in general, but I suspect 
it's not that common.  There are plenty of places in Honey Creek where it 
doesn't work.  What I remember being especially insidious in Prassell Ranch 
Cave is that there was often a false floor of flowstone under the mud that was 
sometimes strong enough to support body weight, and sometimes not.  One would 
be crawling along through the mud and then suddenly fall through, doing a face 
plant in the process.

>And this cave has had a going lead for 30 something years.   Right ?

  There is no open lead as far as I know, although I think there is a dig 
at a low airspace or sump at the back.  I haven't seen it though.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: Honeycreek Cave air and related topics

[Minton, Mark]

  David Locklear said:

>If you have 20 something cavers in a small passage with bad air breathing 
>heavily for 9 hours, do expect the oxygen level to improve or get worse  ?
>I propose future trips take precautionary measures and release some oxygen 
>into the passage.

  Of course the oxygen level would get worse with people breathing and no 
air flow.  However it's now a moot point since there will not likely be any 
more dives from that location in the foreseeable future.

>A tiny air shaft could be drilled, that could also be used to lower the diving 
>gear into the room where the divers suit up at.

 It couldn't be too tiny if you want to lower diving gear!   But drilling 
even a small shaft to provide air would be way too expensive.   It would be 
simpler to just bring an extra tank for the sherpas to take an occasional 
breath from.  If you did drill a shaft, you wouldn't have to pump air in, 
because the shaft itself would cause airflow that would keep the air fresh.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: Mistaken identity

[Minton, Mark]

Thomas,
 
>I need to create the Facebook group "I'm not related to Tim Stich, in fact, 
>neither of our names are spelled the same."
 
  Oops, my bad.  Sorry about that.  I hadn't noticed the difference in 
spelling, and I have in fact wondered whether you were related to Tim.  Thanks 
for clearing that up.
 
Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] New NSS WNS Web Page

[Minton, Mark]

  Forwarded message from Cheryl Jones below.
 
Mark Minton
 
 
NSS webmaster Alex Sproul has created a Web page for info on the June 4 WNS 
hearing on Capitol Hill, with a few pictures and links to the video and 
transcripts, for we don't know how long the page and records will remain on the 
Natural Resources Committee Web site. 
http://caves.org/WNS/Hearing%20on%20WNS.htm 

  (or go to www.caves.org/WNS 
  and 
click the link)

And don't forget to go to the NSS WNS page to watch the new film "Battle for 
Bats."  The new USF&WS decontamination procedures are now linked from the  page 
as well.  And the WNS brochure.  And how to donate to the WNS Rapid Response 
Fund.

Yup, it's a one-stop shopping experience for all your WNS info!

Cheryl
(Please circulate this widely to cavers)

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[Texascavers] RE: Honey Creek Cave tank haul trip

[Minton, Mark]

  Thomas Stich said:
 
>You could return with a cave radio, get a proper reading, and then drill a new 
>well into the current passage beyond the sump, correct?  What's the cost of 
>drilling the well?  Is that on the order of thousands or tens of thousands of 
>dollars?  
>Then the challenge would be pushing the second sump into whatever untold 
>wonder or third sump exists beyond, correct?
 
  Yes, that could be done, but it would hardly be cost effective unless the 
new sump could be drained enough to allow non-divers to get through.  It would 
indeed cost thousands of dollars to drill a new shaft, and it would not provide 
access to going cave for anyone but divers, and even then it would be a gamble 
that there is not a series of sumps ahead.  Unless someone donated the cost of 
the shaft, I doubt most cavers would think it worthwhile.
 
Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: the good old days

[Minton, Mark]

>Eventually, after a journey of 5,189 miles that took 48 days and used 85 
>gallons (390 litres) of diesel, the group reached the end of the road at Arki 
>in the Himachal Pradesh.
 
  48 days just to get to there?!  And I thought it took us a long time to 
get J2 going this year!  And I agree with Bill Mixon, there's no way an old 
double-decker bus could get 61 mpg.
 
Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: Honey Creek Cave tank haul trip

[Minton, Mark]

Bill,
 
>The results were that James and Creature surveyed 1,000 feet of passage and 
>reached another sump. 
 
  Congratulations on some hard-won passage!  Too bad about the next sump.  
:-(  I guess passing that one is beyond the limits of reasonable effort with 
current technology.
 
Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] Beer Hydrates Better Than Water!

[Minton, Mark]

  Beer drinkers take heart!  According to Spanish researchers, beer is 
better than water for rehydration.


Mark Minton


Hallelujah: Beer Hydrates Better Than Water 
 
Now, there's no reason to wait for that post-hike beer
 
At last, I no longer have to act ashamed whenever people discover my hydration 
bladder is full of Miller High Life-I'm simply ahead of my time. Our pal 
Science now says that beer, yes beer, is more effective for rehydrating the 
body than plain ol' water. I think I'm not alone when I say that this qualifies 
as news on par with peace in the Middle East.

Researchers at Granada University in Spain found this Nobel Prize-worthy 
discovery after months of testing 25 student subjects, who were asked to run on 
a treadmill in grueling temps (104 degrees F) until they were as close to 
exhaustion as possible. Half were given water to drink, and the other half 
drank two pints of Spanish lager. Then the godly researchers measured their 
hydration levels, motor skills, and concentration ability.

They determined that the beer drinkers had "slightly better" rehydration 
effects, which researchers attribute to sugars, salts, and bubbles in beer 
enhancing the body's ability to absorb water. The carbohydrates in beer also 
help refill calorie deficits.
 
Based on the results of the study, researchers recommend moderate consumption 
of beer as a part of athletes' diets. "Moderate consumption" for men is 500ml 
per day, and for women is 250ml per day.
 
Goodbye Gatorade, hello Pabst Blue Ribbon: This opens the door to a whole raft 
of new athlete beer sponsorships. Hopefully we'll see Lance replace the water 
bottle on his bike with a 40 of St. Ides in the next few months. (In fact, 
maybe that's why he didn't win the Giro d'Italia.)

This of course doesn't mean anything for hydration outside of strenuous 
exercise, but I'm not taking any chances-best to start hydrating now. [cracks 
open can of Lone Star]

-Ted Alvarez
 
It's Better To Drink Beer After Exercise Than Water (Cleveland Leader)

[Texascavers] RE: Texas Considering Closing Caves for WNS

[Minton, Mark]

Mark, et al.,

>Further info is available at the TSA homepage:
>http://www.cavetexas.org/information/white_nose_syndrome.html

  The link on that page for the USFWS Disinfection Protocol is out of date. 
 It has procedures from March.  The supposedly final June versions are here:  
.  Note that in several places 
these new documents state that quaternary ammonium compounds with a 
concentration of >3% should be used.  According to people I have spoken with, 
that is incorrect.  It should state 0.3%.  This is actually what the second 
USFWS document says in the table on page 5, in contradiction to what it says on 
pages 2 and 3 of the same document.  This is very unfortunate.  It is actually 
difficult to find these compounds in concentrations as high as 3%.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: WNS and ICS

[Minton, Mark]

George,

>Someone please forward this note to the GVKS and CVILLEGROTTO lists. I'm not 
>signed up to post there.

  Done.  I sent your two posts and Jim Kennedy's.  Thanks for the quick 
response.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] Texas Considering Closing Caves for WNS

[Minton, Mark]

  The following article says that the Texas is considering closing all caves in the state to ward off the possible introduction of White Nose Syndrome.  The order would only apply to state-owned caves.  I wonder how that would affect the upcoming ICS/NSS convention.  
 
Mark Minton
 
 
Posted on Mon, Jun. 01, 2009
 
As fungus kills bats elsewhere in the U.S., Texas considers closing its caves
 
By BILL HANNA
billha...@star-telegram.com
 


Texas officials are considering closing the state’s caves out of fear that a deadly fungus associated with the growing number of bat deaths in the Northeastern U.S. may spread to this part of the country. 
 
White-nose syndrome, so named because the white fungus appears on bats’ noses, has spread rapidly throughout the Northeast since it was first discovered in New York in the winter of 2006-07. It hasn’t been discovered in Texas, but it has already reached 10 states, including Oklahoma.
 
While many people may be creeped out by bats, the nocturnal creatures are considered crucial to the agricultural community. For Texas, home to 33 bat species, widespread deaths could be devastating. A 2007 study found that bats help control pests that cost U.S. farmers $1 billion annually. 
 
"At this point we’re considering whether we should be closing caves on state-owned lands," said John Young, a Texas Parks and Wildlife mammalogist. "We have a number of them on state-owned lands."
 
The U.S. Forest Service has already closed caves and old mines from Oklahoma to Maine. But the agency has no caves in its national forests or grasslands in Texas, spokeswoman Gay Ippolito said.
 
The situation has become serious enough that two subcommittees of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee are planning to address it in a hearing Thursday. 
 
Last week, Bat Conservation International hosted a conference in Austin to prepare for the hearings and bring experts from across the country to discuss the subject.
 
"One of the lead scientists at the meeting said this is the worst wildlife crisis documented in North America in the last century," said Merlin Tuttle, the group’s founder, who was its president/executive director until Sunday.
 
"With its rate of spread it could certainly be in Texas within two years," Tuttle said. "We just don’t know. We do know it is something that is certainly killing 95-100 percent of the bats it comes in contact with."
 
Batty bucks
 
A 2006 report in the scientific journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment determined that bats provided a $1.7 million benefit to the eight South Texas counties in their study area.
 
The only glimmer of hope for Texas is that Mexican free-tailed bats, the predominant species in Texas, is migratory and doesn’t hibernate in winter. So far, all the species that have had large die-offs hibernate in colder climates in the Northeast. White-nose syndrome appears to lay dormant during the warmer summer months and attacks bats during their winter hibernation, Tuttle said, but there are many unanswered questions.
 
"We don’t even know for sure if the fungus itself is the problem or symptom of the problem," Tuttle said. "We do know that bats with this fungus on them arouse far more than normal during normal hibernation. The bats are dying in an emaciated status. The fungus is a strong suspect, but we need to confirm it is the problem. Once we confirm it, we need to learn how it is transmitted — and once it is transmitted, how it attacks the bats."
 
Though it is believed that the fungus is transferred from one bat to another, there is some concern that researchers’ clothing and equipment could spread it from cave to cave. That is why caves have been closed across the country.
 
Restricting access
 
Bracken Cave, outside of San Antonio, is home to the largest Mexican free-tailed bat colony in the world. Its owner, Bat Conservation International, restricts access: The public can view bat emergences but cannot enter the cave.
 
Experts say the public can safely view bat emergences at popular sites like Bracken Cave and the Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin. At the Eckerd James River Cave in the Hill Country, the Nature Conservancy of Texas allows escorted viewings of the emergences from April through October.
 
Visitors do not enter the cave and researchers haven’t been inside for at least four or five years, said John Herron, the Texas chapter’s director of conservation.
 
But Tuttle said the fear is that some researcher will inadvertently bring the fungus to Texas.
 
"The big worry is while scientists are trying to find a solution, someone from an infected area will bring spores from the fungus to a cave in Texas from their caving gear or even on their human bodies," Tuttle said. "It could get a big hopscotch leap, which would be terrible. We need every day we have to find a solution before it arrives."
 
BILL HANNA, 817-390-7698

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[Texascavers] New Artcile on WNS

[Minton, Mark]

  There is a new article on WNS on msnbc:  .
 
Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: Tlamaqui: new Spanish-language caving e-mailing list

[Minton, Mark]

 Fofo said:


(no archives,

Uh... Thinking in Spanish here. It should have read "no files."


 Which I presume means no attachments (adjuntos)...

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] Congressional WNS Hearing

[Minton, Mark]

   Forward of Cheryl Jones' post to VARList about the WNS hearing in 
Congress.

Mark Minton


The testimony on WNS before the joint sub-committee* today went very well.  
"Our" panel of Peter Youngbaer, Merlin Tuttle (BCI), and Scott Darling (Vermont 
F&W Dept.) and Tom Kunz (Boston U.) did a terrific job, and Peter sure did the 
NSS proud.  The NSS received kudos from the USF&W and USFS witnesses.

Although it would appear that with only 6 or 7 sub-committee members present 
the hearing was poorly attended. However the staff said that actually 
attendance was excellent -- often only the chairman shows up for hearings.  The 
audience seating was over flowing, primarily  with congressional staff taking 
careful notes.   It was great to have VAR's Gordon Brace and Bat World NOVA's 
Leslie Sturges in the audience as well.  Thanks for the support!
.
The committee members seemed quite interested, and appeared to (eventually) 
grasp the situation, issues, the value of bats, and need for research funding.  
Fingers crossed.

A copy of the conservation issue of the NSS News (the issue with the WNS bat on 
the back cover) was distributed to the committee, and available for attendees.

Go here to watch the video of the hearing -- I think you'll find it pretty 
interesting --and/or to read the written statements that were presented in 
advance to the sub-committee members 
http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=27&extmode=view&extid=259

A take away quote: "It probably is the most serious threat to American wildlife 
of the past century."

Cheryl
*Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands and the Subcommittee 
on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife

[Texascavers] PBS Item on Inferring Weather Patterns from Stalagmites

[Minton, Mark]

   Scientists are studying stalagmites in a Polish cave to infer past 
weather patterns:  


Mark Minton

[NMCAVER] Congressional WNS Testimony June 4

[Minton, Mark]

  Forward from Texascavers:
 
Tomorrow, June 4, Merlin Tuttle (BCI), Peter Youngbaer (NSS WNS Liaison),Scott Darling (Vermont Fish and Wildlife Dept.) and Tom Kunz (WNS researcher,Boston University) will present testimony at a joint House subcommitteehearing on WNS.Also scheduled are Secretary Salazar (Department of the Interior) andSecretary Vilsack (Department of Agriculture). (It is unclear ifSecretary Salazar or Vilsack will actually be there or proxies.)***The hearing will be webcast live on the Committee's Web site at:http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/.The info below is from the Committee on Natural Resources Weekly Previewhttp://resourcescommittee.house.gov/images/newsletter/09_06_01_newsletter.pdfOn Thursday [June 4], the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests andPublic Lands and the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans andWildlife will hold a joint oversight hearing on "White-Nose Syndrome:What's Killing Bats in the Northeast?" The hearing will explore theprofound public health, environmental, and economic implications of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats, which, to date, has spread to at least ninestates, from New Hampshire to West Virginia. Bats, which can eat theirbody weight in insects each night, provide important ecosystem andeconomic services in suppressing insect populations, which can spreaddiseases and damage crops.This oversight hearing will highlight the work of the Fish and WildlifeService, U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, and U.S. ForestService, in conjunction with state and local partners, to research,manage, coordinate, and educate the public on WNS.***Visit the Committee's Web site to access witness testimonyfollowing the conclusion of the hearing.http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=27&extmode=view&extid=259(Feel free to circulate this message to cavers)
 

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[Texascavers] RE: Comfort ready to go 'bat'ty with critters' seasonal emergence

[Minton, Mark]

>Though it is located on private land about a mile and a half out of town on FM 
>473, visitors can see the roost from the road. The 30-foot high tower is on 
>concrete piers and covered with shingles.

  When I lived in Driftwood I would pass that bat house every time I drove 
west toward Comfort.  It still looks to be in good condition.  I've read about 
it in several news reports like the one Joe posted, but none of the reports 
ever say whether or not the bat roost still houses a bat colony (or in fact if 
it ever did).  Does anyone know whether these roosts were effective, and 
whether the Comfort one is still actively occupied?  If they were not effective 
in attracting bats, maybe that's why so few were ever built.  It is also my 
understanding that bats do not actually eat very many mosquitoes, preferring 
moths instead.  Is that correct?  Bats eating mosquitoes is widely stated, but 
I wonder how true it is.  Jim Kennedy, can you weigh in on this?  Thanks!

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: Niagara Cave celebrates 75 years underground - pigs and all :

[Minton, Mark]

>

  The above URL is no longer valid; it is now 
.
  On that page there is also a link to another karst story:  
.

Mark Minton

[NMCAVER] Good Airflow!

[Minton, Mark]

  Here are a couple of short videos showing tremendous airflow from Crevice Cave, MO.  Pretty amazing!
 
com/watch?v=Jir34Ms-XwQ>
com/watch?v=BRLQoDsNQT8>
 
Mark Minton

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[NMCAVER] WNS in Virginia

[Minton, Mark]

   Here are four brief reports on WNS in Virginia sent to VARList by Wil 
Orndorff.  The most interesting thing to me is that some of the affected bats 
_do not_ show Geomyces infestation.  This supports the hypothesis that the 
underlying cause of WNS is something else, and the fungal infection is 
secondary.

Mark Minton
 

1) Confirmation of Newberry-Banes Bats WNS

Results were received last week about the Newberry-Bane Cave bats

3 male Little browns were necropsied.

Geomyces sp. fungus was cultured from one of the three, while "mixed fungal 
growth not consistent with Geomyces" was cultured from the other two. All three 
bats were in good body condition.

Note that over 10% of the bats in areas the collecting team visited exhibited 
fungus on their wings and muzzles consistent in appearance with WNS.

National Wildlife Health Center advises to proceed assuming the cave is 
infected with WNS.
---
 
2) Endless Caverns Bats
 
from National Wildlife Health Center communique:

"3 bats were examined and all appeared in fair to good body conditions.  No 
significant internal lesions were observed.  All had mixed fungal growth 
on either their muzzle, wings or both but none appeared Geomyces-like. PCR 
results and histopathology are also pending on these 3 bats."

So WNS, as defined by the presence of Geomyces sp. fungus, is NOT confirmed at 
Endless Caverns.  PCR and histopathology will tell us more.

---

Possible interpretations.

1 - Not WNS

2 - WNS is enabling growth of multiple fungal species on bats, and therefore 
the fungus itself is not the primary culprit.

3 - ???

 
3) Cumberland County Bat
 
The one bat submitted to date from the Virginia Piedmont for possible WNS did 
not turn up positive for Geomyces sp.

It was in poor body condition, however, and did have a mixed fungal growth.

 
4) Possible WNS in Smyth County
 
DGIF and DCR staff visited Hancock Cave on Thursday in response to caver 
reports of WNS-like fungal growth on bats in the cave.  A few pipistrelles with 
significant fungal growth on wings and muzzles were collected fairly close to 
the entrance and shipped to the National Wildlife Health Center for necropsy 
and other analyses.

If this site turns out to indeed be WNS, and all indications are that it is, 
the disease is now in the Upper Tennessee River Basin, no more than 6 miles 
from the nearest Gray Bat summer colony in Marion, VA.
---
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[Texascavers] RE: book prices

[Minton, Mark]

 Bill Mixon said:


Here's a good one for suckers. Look up Art Palmer's "Cave Geology" at amazon.com. They 
don't sell it themselves, evidently, but several third parties are advertising "new and 
used" copies, the cheapest of which is $121.60. The book is in print at the publisher for 
$37.95,


 The really weird thing on Amazon is that in the Price at a Glance box in 
the upper right corner of the Cave Geology sellers page, the list price of 
$37.95 is given, with a line through it, and then the exorbitant resellers 
prices are listed below.  Normally the prices in the Price at a Glance box are 
better deals than the list price, at least for books in print.  It makes no 
sense.

Mark Minton

[NMCAVER] Acid-loving Extremophiles

[Minton, Mark]

  For the biologists:  


Mark Minton

Extreme Microbes More Diverse Than Thought
May 28, 2009
Researchers at the Univ. of Illinois report that microbes able to live in 
boiling acid are more diverse than previously thought, and that their diversity 
is driven largely by geographic isolation. Sulfolobus islandicus is offering up 
its secrets to researchers hardy enough to capture it from the volcanic hot 
springs where it thrives.
The findings open a new window on microbial evolution, demonstrating for the 
first time that geography can trump other factors that influence the makeup of 
genes an organism hosts. S. islandicus belongs to the archaea, a group of 
single-celled organisms that live in a variety of habitats including some of 
the most forbidding environments on the planet. Once lumped together with 
bacteria, archaea are now classified as a separate domain of life.
"Archaea are really different from bacteria - as different from bacteria as we 
are," said Rachel Whitaker, a professor of microbiology. Whitaker has spent 
almost a decade studying the genetic characteristics of S. islandicus. The 
extreme physical needs of S. islandicus make it an ideal organism for studying 
the impact of geographic isolation. It can live only at temperatures that 
approach the boiling point of water and in an environment that has the pH of 
battery acid. It breathes oxygen, eats volcanic gases and expels sulfuric acid. 
It is unlikely that it can survive even a short distance from the hot springs 
where it is found.
By comparing the genetic characteristics of individuals from Yellowstone 
National Park, Lassen Park, and a Russian volcano, Whitaker was able to see how 
each of the populations had evolved since they were isolated from one another 
more than 900,000 years ago.
The complete genome of S. islandicus contains a set of core genes that are 
shared among all members of this group, with some minor differences in the 
sequence of nucleotides that spell out individual genes. But it also contains a 
variable genome, with groups of genes that differ - sometimes dramatically - 
from one subset, or strain, to another.
Whitaker found that the variable genome in individual strains of S. islandicus 
is evolving at a rapid rate, with high levels of variation even between two or 
three individuals in the same location.
"Some people think that these variable genes are the way that microbes are 
adapting to new environments," Whitaker said. "You land in a new place, you 
need a new function in that new place, you pick up that set of genes from 
whoever's there or we don't know who from, and now you can survive there. We've 
shown that does not occur."
"This tells you that there's a lot more diversity than we thought," Whitaker 
said. "Each hot spring region has its own genome and its own genome components 
and is evolving in its own unique way. And if each place is evolving in its own 
unique way, then each one is different and there's this amazing diversity. I 
mean, beetles are nothing compared to the diversity of microbes."
These findings challenge the idea that microbes draw whatever they may need 
from a near-universal pool of available genetic material, Whitaker said. It 
appears instead that S. islandicus, at least, acquires new genes from a very 
limited genetic reservoir stored in viruses and other genetic elements that are 
constrained to each geographic location on Earth.
Source: Univ. of Illinois
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[Texascavers] New Method for Dating Rock Art

[Minton, Mark]

 New research has made it possible to more accurately date rock art.  See 
.
  The original paper is freely downloadable at 
.

Mark Minton

New Technology For Dating Ancient Rock Paintings
March 18, 2009
A new dating method finally is allowing archaeologists to incorporate rock 
paintings - some of the most mysterious and personalized remnants of ancient 
cultures - into the tapestry of evidence used to study life in prehistoric 
times.
In the study , Marvin W. Rowe points out that rock paintings, or pictographs, are among the most difficult archaeological artifacts to date. They lack the high levels of organic material needed to assess a pictograph's age using radiocarbon dating, the standard archaeological technique for more than a half-century. 
Rowe describes a new, highly sensitive dating method, called accelerator mass spectrometry, that requires only 0.05 milligrams of carbon (the weight of 50 specks of dust). That's much less than the several grams of carbon needed with radiocarbon dating.

The research included analyzing pictographs from numerous countries over a span 
of 15 years. It validates the method and allows rock painting to join bones, 
pottery and other artifacts that tell secrets of ancient societies, Rowe says.
"Because of the prior lack of methods for dating rock art, archaeologists had almost 
completely ignored it before the 1990s," he explains. "But with the ability to obtain 
reliable radiocarbon dates on pictographs, archaeologists have now begun to incorporate rock art 
into a broader study that includes other cultural remains."
Source: American Chemical Society

[Texascavers] More WNS Support

[Minton, Mark]

      Sixty conservation groups recently sent a letter to Congress asking for support for White Nose Syndrome research.  Here's the press release from the Center for Biological Diversity.  
 
Mark Minton
 
60 Groups Tell Congress to Work Harder for Bats
 
This Wednesday, the Center for Biological Diversity and a long list of other national and regional organizations sent a letter to members of Congress requesting increased funding for research on white-nose syndrome, a mysterious, fast-spreading, and fatal disease that has been affecting bats across the eastern United States. Since the disease first popped up two years ago near Albany, New York, an estimated million-plus bats have fallen victim, including the federally protected Indiana bat. Biologists are concerned the disease may next strike endangered Virginia big-eared and gray bats, both of which have very limited ranges and can't afford any more losses. Thankfully, after the Center for Biological Diversity and Heartwood petitioned to close off bat hibernation sites to help prevent the disease's spread, this spring the U.S. Forest Service announced it would close thousands of caves and abandoned mines on agency lands in 33 states in New England, the Midwest, and its southern region.
 
But much more needs doing, and bats are dying every day. Federal and state agencies must have more dollars to fund research, coordination, and management to understand, fight, and hopefully overcome white-nose syndrome so endangered bats don't die out forever.
 
Learn details in our press release , where you can also read the letter, and take action  yourself before the end of the month.

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[Texascavers] Space Bat

[Minton, Mark]

  A bat hitched a ride on the space shuttle last March.  I didn't see this 
posted on Texascavers, but I was out of email contact when it happened.  Sorry 
if this is a repeat.





  There are also several YouTube videos.  Search for Space Bat.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: The Second Quarter 2009 TEXAS CAVER is now online!

[Minton, Mark]

Mark,

>Just in time for your three day weekend, the second quarter version of The 
>TEXAS CAVER has been posted to the Members Area by our very own near and dear 
>web extraordinaire, Butch Fralia.

  Got it; thanks!  Beautiful!  I am puzzled by the size of the file, 
though.  When I first went to the TSA web site to download the issue, it said 
it was 64.3 MB.  Later (now) it says it is 38.6 MB.  But in fact it is only 3.7 
MB.  Maybe 38.6 is just a decimal error, but 3.7 MB seems awfully small for 
such a large issue, complete with color, especially given that some of the 
previous issues really are in the 10 - 30 MB range.  Did you post a lower 
resolution version?  Nevertheless it looks mighty good!  I actually miss 
getting it in hard copy.  :-(

Mark Minton

P.S.  The page numbering is off by 2 in the table of contents.

[Texascavers] Blind Fish-Insired Sensor

[Minton, Mark]

  Scientists at Georgia Tech have developed an underwater sensor based on 
the ability of blind fish to navigate in caves.  See 
.

Mark Minton

Fish Hair Inspires Flow Sensors
March 25, 2009
A blind fish that has evolved a unique technique for sensing motion may inspire 
a new generation of sensors that perform better than current active sonar.
Although the fish species Astyanax fasciatus is blind, they sense their 
environment and the movement of water around them with gel-covered hairs that 
extend from their bodies. Their ability to detect underwater objects and 
navigate through their lightless environment inspired a group of researchers to 
mimic the hairs of these blind cavefish in the lab.
While the fish use these hairs to detect obstacles, avoid predators and 
localize prey, researchers believe the engineered sensors they're developing 
could have a variety of underwater applications, such as port security, 
surveillance, early tsunami detection, autonomous oilrig inspection, autonomous 
underwater vehicle navigation, and marine research.
"These hair cells are like well-engineered mechanical sensors, similar to those 
that we use for balance and hearing in the human ear, where the deflection of 
the jelly-encapsulated hair cell measures important flow information," says 
Vladimir Tsukruk, a professor at Georgia Tech. "The hairs are better than 
active sonar, which requires a lot of space, sends out strong acoustic signals 
that can have a detrimental effect on the environment, and is inappropriate for 
stealth applications."
Tsukruk and graduate students Michael McConney and Kyle Anderson conducted 
preliminary experiments with a simple artificial hair cell microsensor made of 
SU-8, a common epoxy-based polymer capable of solidifying, and built with 
conventional CMOS microfabrication technology.

They found that the cell by itself could not achieve the high sensitivity or 
long-range detection of hydrodynamic disturbances created by moving or 
stationary bodies in a flow field. The hair cell needed the gel-like 
capsule-called the cupula-to overcome these challenges.
"After covering the hair cell with synthetic cupula, our bio-inspired 
microsensor had the ability to detect flow better than the blind fish. The fish 
can detect flow slower than 100 micrometers per second, but our system 
demonstrated flow detection of several micrometers per second," says Tsukruk. 
"Adding the cupula allowed us to detect a much smaller amount of flow and 
expand the dynamic range because it suppressed the background noise."
Source: Georgia Tech

[Texascavers] Lithium Battery Breakthrough

[Minton, Mark]

  For those interested in the latest lithium battery technology, 
researchers claim to have developed a new lithium battery architecture that 
gives three times the power density of conventional lithium batteries:  
.  As 
with all such claims, commercialization will be the real proof of whether or 
not this works in practice.

Mark Minton

Re: [NMCAVER] WNS Update

[Minton, Mark]

  It has been pointed out that the link I sent for the NSS WNS web page goes through my email, which you would not have access to.  Here is the proper URL:
 

 
  Sorry!
 
Mark

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[Texascavers] WNS Update

[Minton, Mark]

  For the latest White Nose Syndrome News, see below
 
Mark Minton
 
 
Begin forwarded message:
 
Peter Youngbaer, NSS White Nose Syndrome (WNS) Liaison, has requestedthe following information be immediately sent out on the GrottoConservation Network (GCN).  To ensure widest dissemination,permission is granted to re-post on caver listservers, chatrooms,newsletters, etc.  For Jim Werker and Val Hildreth-Werker, NSS Conservation Co-Chairs    Steve Smith    GCN Coordinator...The WNS page on caves.org has just received a major facelift and a lotof new content.Take a look:     http://www.caves.org/WNS/index.htmThe latest Breaking News is still displayed at the top, and you cannow more easily find all the most recent info on Cave Closures, MediaArticles, Decon, and Research Science.Some very important things are about to happen, including aCongressional hearing on WNS.Please spread the word.   Thank you.Peter YoungbaerNSS WNS Liaision

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[Texascavers] RE: Mexican vertical caving event

[Minton, Mark]

Bill,


I've received an e-mail about the Primera Competencia de Técnica de 
Espeleología, to be held in Mexico D.F. 29-31 May.


 Who is organizing that event?  I don't recognize 
.  Thanks!

Mark Minton

[NMCAVER] National Geographic TAG Article

[Minton, Mark]

  There is a nice article in the June issue of "National Geographic" 
magazine about caving in TAG.  It features Marion Smith.

Mark Minton
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[Texascavers] WNS Letter to Salazar

[Minton, Mark]

  Below is the text of a letter sent by Congress (13 Senators and 12 
Representatives) to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar requesting funds for WNS 
research.  Thanks to Ray Keeler.

Mark Minton


May 5, 2009
 
The Honorable Ken Salazar
Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240
 
Dear Secretary Salazar:
 
We are faced with an alarming ecological situation in the Northeast. Over the 
last two winters over one million hibernating bats have mysteriously died. 
While scientists have not been able to determine the precise cause of these 
deaths, with mortality rates in some caves as high as 90 to 100 percent, the 
bats appear to be infected with a fungus that turns their noses and bodies 
white. This affliction of unknown origin, dubbed White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), 
must be stopped. We ask for your full support to respond to this crisis by 
providing immediate, emergency Fiscal Year 2009 funding for the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey to respond to this crisis.
 
The first case of WNS was reported in the winter of 2006 in Howes Cave, near 
Albany, New York. Scientists working for the New York Department of 
Environmental Conservation observed hibernating bats with a previously 
unidentified white fungus on their noses and bodies. Since then, confirmed 
cases of WNS have shown up in nine states: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New 
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and West 
Virginia. In addition, there are unconfirmed WNS reports in Rhode Island. Given 
what we have seen in the past three years, it is highly likely that WNS will 
spread from the northeast into some of the largest and most diverse bat 
colonies in the nation, which are located in the southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and 
Midwest. If this happens, we risk the possibility of extinction of several bat 
species.
 
This issue has profound public health, environmental, and economic 
implications. Bats are among the most beneficial animals. We are just beginning 
to fully appreciate the roles that bats play in North American ecosystems, and 
it is clear that threats like WNS have the potential to influence ecosystem 
function in ways that we currently do not understand. They prey almost 
exclusively on insects such as mosquitoes, which spread disease, and moths and 
beetles, which damage crops. A single bat can easily eat more than 3,000 
insects a night and an entire colony will consume hundreds of millions of these 
crop-destroying and disease-carrying pests every year. Bats reduce the need for 
pesticides, which cost farmers billions of dollars every year and are harmful 
to human health.
 
States, in partnership with the Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. 
Geological Survey, have been working diligently to establish a cause for this 
deadly mystery. With extremely limited resources, scientists have been working 
to determine a cause and develop solutions to this crisis, while minimizing its 
impact on populations of hibernating bats in North America. Additional 
research, work, and proper resources are needed to fully address this crisis.
 
We respectfully request that the Department of the Interior provide adequate 
funding to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and other 
agencies to carry out critical research on and develop a cure for WNS. As the 
bats emerge from their hibernation caves, it is vital that researchers have the 
resources in place to conduct tests this summer. We must do everything we can 
to stop the spread of WNS or it will continue to spread across the country 
decimating our bat populations. We ask for your help in providing immediate, 
emergency funding for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. 
Geological Survey for research, management, coordination, and outreach in order 
to provide an appropriate coordinated response to this deadly, newly emergent 
disease.
 
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We look forward to your 
prompt response to this inquiry.
 
Signers:
1. Senator Patrick Leahy
2. Senator Bernard Sanders
3. Senator Robert C. Byrd
4. Senator Charles E. Schumer
5. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg
6. Senator Robert Menendez
7. Senator John F. Kerry
8. Senator Jim Webb
9. Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr.
10. Senator Mark R. Warner
11. Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand
12. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV
13. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman
14. Representative Peter Welch
15. Representative John McHugh
16. Representative Joe Courtney
17. Representative John Olver
18. Representative Peter Visclosky
19. Representative Charlie Gonzalez
20. Representative Rick Boucher
21. Representative Maurice Hinchey
22. Representative Carolyn C. Kilpatrick
23. Representative Robert Wexler
24. Representative Carol Shea-Porter
25. Representative Lloyd Doggett

[Texascavers] Latest Caving Light

[Minton, Mark]

  For those interested in the latest high-tech caving lights, there is a 
new European LED lamp that looks similar to the upgraded Sten.  It is 
surprisingly inexpensive compared to similar lamps on the market.  Not many 
details yet as it has not actually been offered for sale.  It looks like it was 
designed specifically to be compatible with those throwbacks still using a 
ceiling burner (more common in Europe since they have more need to stay warm).



Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: HC & snakes

[Minton, Mark]

  Kurt said:

>A year or two later a few of us hiked and fished from the cave entrance to the 
>Guadalupe river and back.  We found about a dozen decapitated cottonmouth 
>snakes.

  Back in the '80s we were also working on Preserve Cave much further down 
Honey Creek toward the river.  On one trip there we saw a large cottonmouth in 
a pool in the creek near that cave entrance.  We just watched and left it alone.

Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: Chris Nicola and Priest's Grotto in Ukraine

[Minton, Mark]

  If you looked at the Priest's Grotto information Bill Steele posted you 
may have seen this statement on the National Geographic Adventure site 
:

>At 77 miles (124 kilometers), Priest's Grotto is the second longest of the 
>Gypsum Giants and currently ranks as the tenth longest cave in the world.

Since I pay attention to the world's deepest and longest caves, I wondered why 
I had never heard of this cave.  Chris Nicola confirmed that it is in fact the 
same as Ozernaja, currently the 13th longest in the world on Bob Gulden's list 
.  (The above quote is from 2004.)

Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: Camino Columbia Toll Goes automated

[Minton, Mark]

  Diana said:

>I was told I could get a new sticker as long as I could use a different form 
>of ID--since I had used my passport to get the unreturned sticker, if I used 
>my birth certificate I could get a new one.

  I have done that in the past as well, but when I attempted it in March on 
the way to J2, it didn't work.  They now seem to have vehicles listed by VIN 
number rather than the type of ID the owner uses, which makes a lot more sense. 
 Unfortunately, that meant there was no way I was going to be able to get car 
papers for a different vehicle since I had an old, unreturned one.  We solved 
the problem by signing the vehicle over to another person with no outstanding 
vehicle permits.  That works, and was even suggested by the aduana agent.  No 
tip was solicited and none was offered.

Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: Camino Columbia Toll Goes automated

[Minton, Mark]

  Aimee said:

>>I won't miss those semaforos since they were obviously not really random like 
>>they were supposed to be.  I've had the
light come on before I ever even pushed the button!

>I've heard that they come equiped with a "hippie detector".Now I have evidence!

  Yeah, but I usually get the green light even with a truck full of gear, 
so I don't think they're being discriminatory based on personal appearance.  I 
think someone inside the building decides whether they want to examine a 
vehicle's cargo, and presets the light to show red or green.

  Preston said:

>Has anyone been turned away at the border in recent years for "looks," long 
>hair or bo?

  I was certainly victim of that many years ago, but the last decade or so 
has been very mellow.  I haven't heard of any problems.  There was some kind of 
purge of border officials and ever since, they have been much younger (with 
lots of women) and way more professional.  Almost no one expects a tip or bribe 
any more, and we do not give them.  In fact when one has a problem, like 
improper or expired papers or whatever, it is actually rather difficult to buy 
your way out of the situation.  The old system was a hassle, but it 
occasionally worked in our favor by making it easy to bend the rules.  Still, I 
like the new professionalism much better.

Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: Camino Columbia Toll Goes automated

[Minton, Mark]

  Aimee said:

>We got 180 day tourist and vehicle permits.  Lately we've been told that 
>tourist permits are only good for one visit but not this time - a new and 
>welcome change.

  We had no trouble getting 180 days on our permits when we went to Los 
Toros (Purificación) last Christmas or to J2 (Oaxaca) this spring, so I haven't 
seen any evidence of one-trip-only permits.  I certainly hope that is not 
happening.  Occasionally I have been offered less time initially, but when I 
asked to get the full 180 days it was always granted.

>I'll sorta miss the old semaforos but they are still in use at Camaron Station 
>further into the interior.

  On our way down to J2 in March we noted that a new interior aduana check 
point was being constructed further south of Matamaoros than the old one.  On 
our way back north in April it was open, although of course we didn't have to 
stop since we were heading north.  This was obviously designed to allow a 
single check point to catch traffic crossing from both Matamoros and Indios, 
similar to the one constructed south of Laredo to catch both Laredo and 
Colombia traffic many years ago.  I don't know what sort of inspection 
selection device the new aduana has, but I won't miss those semaforos since 
they were obviously not really random like they were supposed to be.  I've had 
the light come on before I ever even pushed the button!

>The Mexican army is well represented at the border now.

  When we crossed at Colombia last Christmas, there was the heaviest army 
presence I've ever seen at a border crossing.  In addition to soldiers with 
vests, helmets and rifles, there were jeeps with heavy machine guns mounted on 
the roof parked around the aduana.  I suspect this has to do with the increased 
drug violence in border cities.

>A 22 Km stretch of NL 1 has just been widened and paved.

  There are several recently widened smaller roads in northern Mexico.  It 
looks like the government is definitely trying to improve access to/from the 
border.  Although these roads are not four lanes wide, they have wide enough 
shoulders to make passing easy because people move over, just like they do in 
Texas.  In addition to the widened section of NL1 and the road south from 
Colombia, the road south from Indios is fully widened to its junction with 
101/180, 180 has been partly widened south toward Soto La Marina, and the road 
from Soto to La Pesca on the coast is almost completely upgraded.  Now if 
they'd just fix the rest of the road south from Tampico to Veracruz!

>There are two new and quite large Santo Muerte chapels along NL 1. 

  We stopped at one of those last January.  Very bizarre statues and 
posters inside.  We took several photos.

>The times they are a changin'

  And seemingly for the better!  :-)

Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] Hangover Cure

[Minton, Mark]

  Since cavers are known to partake of the occasional drink, you might be 
interested in this scientifically verified cure for a hangover:  the bacon 
sandwich.  


Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] White Nose Syndrome

[Minton, Mark]

  There have been several items concerning White Nose Syndrome lately.  The 
NSS has a new informational brochure here:  
.  There is also a campaign 
to try to convince Congress to fund WNS research.  You can take action to get 
support for this here:  
.
  Finally, I heard last night on ABS News that they will be having a special 
report on WNS Thursday evening at 11 PM.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: First Trip

[Minton, Mark]

Terry,

>Check out the latest AMCS Photo of the Week, It was taken on the first trip to 
>Mexico in November 1962 by TR Evans, Terry Raines, James Reddell, and William 
>Russell.

  There was no photo attached to your email.  :-(  However, attachments 
aren't allowed on Texascavers...

Mark

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[Texascavers] RE: dinner at TSA

[Minton, Mark]

  Stefan said:

>since I'm not a fan of disposables, I don't fancy washing up after 125 people 
>without access to a dishwasher. If you have the plates, etc. and want to do 
>the washing up then be my guest!

  At this year's J2 expedition everyone was assigned a personal plate, cup 
and flatware, which they were responsible for keeping track of and keeping as 
clean as they deemed necessary.  In the past we had always just had a large 
cache of group kitchen items which everyone used and then placed into a large 
tub to be washed along with the cooking utensils and pots.  With up to 30 
people on site at any one time, that made for a rather large washing up chore.  
Coupled with the fact that there is no local water supply at base camp and that 
cooking and washing are done by volunteers, it was sometimes difficult to get 
the work done in a timely manner.  The new system avoids most of the problem 
and prevents people from grabbing another clean plate or cup every time they 
eat something.  Washing up this year has been mercifully easy, since every one 
does their own and the only group items are the cook pots and utensils.  Those 
without culinary skills were generally happy to do the washing in exchange for 
being fed.  ;-)  It seems to be a good system and sure to be used on future 
expeditions.

Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: Acrchaeologist Roger Moore (and GHG member) on the cover of Houston Chronicle.

[Minton, Mark]

>In honor of San Jacinto Day, archaeologist and GHG member Roger Moore was on 
>the cover of today's issue of the Houston Chronicle:

  The link to the story is 
.  There is a 
photo of Roger and map of the site.

Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: first trip to El Sotano

[Minton, Mark]

Bill,

>Does anybody know if a good trip report was ever published on the first 
>descent (January 1972) of El Sótano del Barro, Quetétaro? All I can find is a 
>couple of paragraphs by Pete Strickland in the 1972 Speleo Digest.

  What about Terry Raines' report in AMCS Newsletter vol. 3, no. 5, p. 
107-112?

Mark Minton

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RE: [Texascavers] heated bat boxes podcast

[Minton, Mark]

  Bill Mixon said:

>The phone-in skeptic "Bob of Maryland" in the podcast Diana steered us to 
>about the heated bat boxes sounds like Robert Thrun, in case anybody wondered.

  Indeed, he sent a similar comment to one of the Eastern lists I'm on.

Mark Minton

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[NMCAVER] More on Bat Heaters

[Minton, Mark]

  Below is a post by Diana Tomchick from Texascavers about the heated bat 
house proposal to help bats survive WNS.

Mark Minton


This topic was covered last Friday on the radio talk show Science Friday 
with Ira Flatow. You can download the podcast at

http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/200903063

In addition, if you go to the web site, there is a cool video to watch 
of researchers Alan Hicks and Melissa Behr collecting samples of the 
fungus from bats in a cave in NY state. These two scientists were two 
of the authors of the Science paper on White-Nose Syndrome that I 
mentioned here on CaveTex last week (Blehert D.S., Hicks A.C., Behr 
M., Meteyer C.U., Berlowski-Zier B.M., Buckles E.L., Coleman J.T.H., 
Darling S.R., Gargas, A., Niver R., Okoniewski J.C., Rudd R.J., Stone 
W.B. "Bat White-Nose Syndrome: An Emerging Fungal Pathogen?" Science 
vol. 323, 9 JANUARY 2009, p. 227).

Admittedly the video shows the sort of science-geeky side of these two 
researchers, but I'm used to seeing that kind of thing. :)

There are also images of the bat boxes on the web site. If you have 
problems accessing the podcast (an mp3 file), email me and I'll send 
it to you.

 From the web site:

Caring for White-Nose Syndrome Bats (broadcast Friday, March 6th, 2009)

Bat colonies across the Northeast US have fallen victim to 'White Nose 
Syndrome,' a lethal and mysterious condition. The syndrome is 
characterized by a white, fuzzy fungal infection on bats in infected 
colonies -- but bat specialists still aren't sure if the fungus is a 
symptom of the syndrome, or its cause. Bats affected by the syndrome 
appear to have difficulty conserving their energy during the cold 
winter, causing them to starve to death.
Writing this week in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, a 
journal of the Ecological Society of America, a team of researchers 
propose a dramatic stopgap measure to protect affected colonies -- 
building warm 'bat boxes' inside affected caves that would allow 
affected bats to conserve their energy. We'll talk with researchers 
about the idea and what, if anything, can be done to protect colonies 
affected by the syndrome.

Guests:

Justin Boyles
Graduate Student
Center for North American Bat Research and Conservation
Department of Biology
Indiana State University
Terre Haute, Indiana
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[Texascavers] Suspension Trauma

[Minton, Mark]

   There's an interesting PowerPoint show on dealing with suspension trauma 
(harness hang syndrome) at .  It's 
the last link on the left (under Submenu) or 
.

Mark Minton

Re: [NMCAVER] Heated Bat Houses for WNS

[Minton, Mark]

  Some people have expressed doubts that the heated bat house proposal is worthwhile.  Here is Jim Kennedy's response from the Texascavers email list.  Jim works for Bat Conservation International in Austin.
 
>>I think it is more about feeling good, than actually doing good...
>Absolutely not  Conservation money is in extremely short supply right now, in this uncertain economy.  Bat conservation is an even lower funding priority than almost everything else I can think of.  One of the biggest hurdles in figuring out what is killing off 90% of all the bats in the East (and soon, likely, the rest of the country), is the LACK of money for necessary research.  In fact, some of the very questions being asked (such as "Are the bats going in to hibernation with adequate body weight, or are they starving even before entering hibernation?" and "Is this fungus actually a new species, or is it widespread and just never identified until now?") are pretty simple baseline types of information that we should have been collecting for years, if only we had unlimited budgets to do the research to answer those kinds of questions.  But the reality is that we do not, and will not in the foreseeable future.  Even in Texas I can't tell you how many bats of what species we have in our caves, because NO ONE IS DOING THAT RESEARCH.  Even for the big, popular freetail caves that obviously contribute to our environmental well-being as well as our economic health, we only have a rough idea of numbers and no clue about whether those populations are stable, declining, or (unlikely) increasing.  For other species, even the common cave myotis, entire cave populations could be disappearing and we wouldn't even know.  So whatever efforts are being tried to stem the tide of WNS mortality, you can bet there is at least a pretty good chance that it has a good chance of success.  We don't have the luxury of trying ideas that we know are foolish.-
 
Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] More on Heated Bat Houses for WNS

[Minton, Mark]

  Nancy Weaver said:
 
>How on earth have bats managed to survive so long without thoughtful human intervention?  Or any other part of nature?  Good thing we can now remedy nature's poor planning.
 
  It might not have been nature's poor planning.  No one knows where WNS came from.  We don't know if it the fungus associated with WNS is the cause of the problem or a symptom, merely taking advantage of bats distressed by some other factor.  If something else is weakening bats in the first place, it could be something manmade, like a pesticide.  If we caused the problem, it is not unreasonable for us to try to remedy it, although obviously heated bat houses do not address the root cause, whatever it is.  For another article on the heated bat houses see .
 
Mark Minton

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[NMCAVER] Heated Bat Houses for WNS

[Minton, Mark]

Mark Minton
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[Texascavers] RE: heaters for bats

[Minton, Mark]

 Bill Mixon said:


If you heat up part of the cave, the bats will just move and hibernate in some 
cooler place. They have to hibernate in a suitably cool place in order to 
depress their metabolisms enough.


 As I understood that article, the plan is not to heat open areas of the 
cave to warmer temperature, just the insides of bat boxes, which were described 
as well insulated.  The idea being that after a bat wakes up, it will seek a 
warm place and find one of the boxes where it can go in and warm up.  The 
article stated that when they wanted to hibernate they would leave the vicinity 
of the boxes, so the effects couldn't be too widespread.  It would not be 
practical to warm large areas of caves in any event.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: Volunteering for Convention

[Minton, Mark]

Preston,


Who do we need to contact about volunteering for helping with the two banquets 
in July?


 That would be Linda Palit.  This is from the message that was posted a 
couple of weeks ago:


5) NSS and ICS Banquet Volunteers and Food Tasters

Contact: Linda Palit
lkpa...@sbcglobal.net


NSS Banquet 2-3 hours that Friday, decorating, opening wine!
ICS Banquet 2-3 hours that Saturday, decorating and just helping out

--

See you there!
Mark Minton

[Texascavers] White Nose Syndrome

[Minton, Mark]

  There is a lengthy report on White Nose Syndrome on Earthfiles at 
.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] FW: Wilderness Medicine Course

[Minton, Mark]

  Here's another post from NMCavers that might be of interest to Texas 
cavers.

Mark Minton



From: Jordan Messerer
Sent: Thu 2/26/2009 2:09 PM
To: nmca...@caver.net
Subject: [NMCAVER] wilderness medicine


The Outdoor Pursuits Center at Texas Tech University will be host a Wilderness 
First Responder (WFR) and Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course.

The WFR is an 80 hour course and a national recognized curriculum.  This course 
will be hosted at our campus in Junction, TX,  on March 14-22.  The cost is 
$525 and includes lodging.

The WFA is a 24 hour course which will be offered in Lubbock on April 4-5.  
This class is part Distant Learning which requires viewing lectures by DVD and 
taking a pre-test on-line before the hands-on proportion of the class on April 
4-5th. The cost of this class is $195 if you registered before March 20th.  
This WFA can also be used to renew a WFR.

More information on these course can be found at 
http://www.wildmedcenter.com/home.html or you can contact me at o...@ttu.edu
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[Texascavers] FW: Bat Conference in April

[Minton, Mark]

  The following appeared on the NMCaver list and seems appropriate for 
Texas cavers as well.

Mark Minton


http://www.wbwg.org/business/biennialmeetings/2009/2009WBWGconference.html

2009 WBWG Biennial Conference (April 15-18) and Bats and Wind Energy Workshop 
(April 13-15)


2009 WBWG Biennial Conference and Bats and Wind Energy Workshop Flyer


The Western Bat Working Group, Bat Conservation International, and Texas Parks 
and Wildlife are pleased to bring you the 2009 Western Bat Working Group 
Conference and Wind Energy Workshop at the Town Lake Radisson in fun-filled 
Austin, Texas.
The Bats and Wind Energy Workshop will run Monday April 13th through the 
afternoon of Wednesday April 15th. Experts in the field of wind energy and bats 
from North America and Europe will present a primer on the current issues 
associated with wind energy and bats, provide technical training and 
standardized protocols for conducting pre- and post-construction bat surveys, 
and for conducting wind energy site assessments. This workshop will provide 
state-of-the-art applications for addressing bats and wind energy issues.
We will kick off The 2009 Western Bat Working Group Conference Wednesday April 
15th with an evening social (Texas style of course). The platform papers will 
begin Thursday morning with a special session on the latest in wind energy 
research. This session will include presentations from some of the 
international instructors from the special wind energy workshop so that they 
have a chance to share their latest research efforts. Platform papers for the 
rest of the session will cover a range of conservation, management and research 
topics as driven by abstract submissions. Back by popular demand, the Poster 
Session will include Technology Demos like we had in Portland in 2005. 
Abstracts must be submitted by March 15, 2009 to Michelle Caviness. Your 
involvement in the Saturday morning workshop will be especially important this 
year as we will be working on a strategy to raise the awareness and prevention 
of potential spread of White Nose Syndrome to The West. WNS has continued 
spread at an alarming rate and there is a good chance its arrival in The West 
could be human caused. We will be addressing questions such as, "who do we need 
to reach out to? Partner with? What steps do we need to take to protect roosts? 
What are the priority roosts? How can we help to better inventory and monitor 
roosts without potentially escalating the very problem?" We will never have a 
better opportunity to fight WNS than prior to when it arrives - let's pull 
together and make it happen starting Saturday morning, April 18, 2009.
The Bob Berry Fund will be launched with applications being accepted by late 
February and the first grants will be awarded at the meeting. Also, you will be 
saying adios to the outgoing Officers and welcoming your new Board of Officers.
A bat conference in Austin wouldnâ?Tt be complete without a field trip to 
Bracken Cave (Thursday evening, dinner included) and of course we will have 
another spectacular auction with amazing items you canâ?Tt possibly live 
without â?" if you have something to donate please contact Pat Brown. There is 
yet another great bat t-shirt in the works, and Speleobooks will be joining us.
So, get registered, dust off your bat brain, grab your sunscreen, camera, and 
cowboy boots and join us in Austin!


Registration Fees:
Student: $160.00
General: $180.00
After March 15:
Student: $180.00
General: $200.00
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[Texascavers] RE: new caving club

[Minton, Mark]

Geary,

>I thought West Texas was everything west of the Pecos and east Texas was 
>everything east with the exception of Houston which is considered no-mans land.

  You left out Central Texas, where the center of the caving universe is!  
No one I know considers Austin, Dallas or San Antonio to be in East Texas...

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: Caver wants to mine moon for ice

[Minton, Mark]

  Louise Power said:

>Am I the only one who heard Bill Stone Sunday on NPR talk about excavating the 
>lunar poles for ice. He talked about why cavers are the perfect people to do 
>it.

  Was that a new interview on NPR?  The TED talk that you gave a link for 
was back in March, 2007...

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: Palmito

[Minton, Mark]

Jim,

>The government is improving and extending the road to the cave.  The tunnel 
>into the cave is now finished.  There are no tours given while the 
>construction is going on.

  Does that mean that the cave is closed to cavers as well?  We don't need 
no stinkin' tours...

Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: Mexico Advice

[Minton, Mark]

  Joe Ranzau said:

>Also any caving input for the area is appreciated, Grutas de Garcia is on the 
>list but wild caves would be nice too.  Bustamante is still closed as of 
>Friday when I called the Ancira.

  Why is Palmito closed?  Sorry if I missed something, but that's a 
surprise to me.  If you're interested in caves near Bustamante, you can't go 
wrong with Precipicio.  Lots more exciting than Bustamante, and with a room 
nearly as large and well decorated at the bottom.  You do hve to carry ropes 
and water, though.  ;-)

Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] FW: Why Cavers are Happy Folks

[Minton, Mark]

  The following appeared on the Texascavers email list.  I know I've always felt happy in caves.  :-)  I wonder if this might have curative powers for White-Nose Syndrome?
 
Mark Minton
 
Soil Makes You Happy-From Organic Gardening Magazine (Nov-Jan 2007/2008) -A common soil bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, is an effective vaccine for leprosy. Researchers began to evaluate its merit in treating asthma, tuberculosis, and cancer. When cancer patients treated with M. vaccae reporting feeling inexplicably happier, neuroscientist Christpoher Lowry, PhD, of the UK's University of Bristol injected mice with the bacterium, then examined their brains. The mice's immune systems were stimulated, causing brain cells to release serotonin, a mood-altering, pleasure-inducing hormone.A good excuse to get down and dirty and go caving!!Cheers,Denise

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[Texascavers] RE: Whitenose News (MSNBC.vom)

[Minton, Mark]

>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29005011/

  At the top of that story on White-nose Syndrome under Related stories 
there is a link to an article about volunteer opportunities at the Old Tunnel 
WMA:  .

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] San Antonio Visitor

[Minton, Mark]

 Josh Rubinstein, a caver from Virginia, will be visiting San Antonio, TX next 
Thursday through Monday and will have some free time.  If any SA cavers can suggest a 
cave trip or some interesting things for him to see while there, he would appreciate 
it.  Please reply directly to Josh at .  Thanks!

Mark Minton

[NMCAVER] Carlsbad's 8 million 'lost' bats likely never existed

[Minton, Mark]

  Interesting application of modern science to an old rumor about how many bats there were in Carlsbad Cavern:  .
 
Mark Minton
 

Carlsbad's 8 million 'lost' bats likely never existed 

Thermal imaging and algorithms challenge famous estimate
By Susan Milius
Web edition : Friday, January 23rd, 2009
 
Eight million is a lot of bats to lose, and now a new study may explain what happened to the possibly lost bats of Carlsbad Cavern.
 
Short answer: According to a Boston University team, the famous 8 million bats never existed in the first place.
 
From spring to fall, the cave Carlsbad Cavern in New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park still hosts hundreds of thousands of migratory Brazilian free-tailed bats that thrill visitors by boiling out of the cave at dusk for a night’s foraging. All the bats roosting in the cave emerge in a dense plume that streams on and on and on, sometimes for an hour or three.
 
As with many wildlife spectacles these days, always present is the disturbing possibility that today’s show is a mere wisp compared to the great Carlsbad bat clouds of yore.
 
In 1937 V.C. Allison published an estimate of the Brazilian free-tailed bat numbers based on timing an emergence (14 minutes at great density; four minutes at half that) and eyeballing the speed and size of the stream. About 8.7 million bats roost in the cavern, he reported.
 
Since then, methods and numbers have varied, but estimates haven’t topped a million. Consequently, conservationists have raised alarms about perils to bats. Or maybe Allison’s eyeballs played tricks on him, or the great emergence flights really have shrunk drastically.
 
Starting in 2005, bat scientist Thomas Kunz of Boston University and colleagues brought new technology to Carlsbad Cavern to count and observe the animals. Parts of the cave where bats roost are closed to visitors to prevent disturbances to the animals. But to improve the census and studies, the park allowed Kunz’s team to venture into these portions of the caves.
 
One of the first field biology groups to use military-derived thermal imaging, Kunz’s team attracted the U.S. Park Service’s interest by pointing out that the researchers didn’t need to shine any lights, even at infrared wavelengths, on the bats; the cameras detect heat directly.
 
“Surreal” and “disgusting, yet absolutely amazing” is how Nickolay Hristov, now at Brown University in Providence, R.I., describes the roosting sites. “Imagine standing on a 20- to 30-foot cushion of bat poop covered with a constantly moving carpet of dermestid beetles and their larvae,” he says.
 
“As you move around you are being rained on by bat urine,” Hristov says. Bat excretions don’t have the same odor as human equivalents, he says, but “the smell of ammonia is so strong that your eyes burn.” A single bat barely makes any noise that humans can hear but tens of thousands of them together get “quite loud,” he says. ”I would grab the camera and go back in a heartbeat.”
 
To count the bats emerging, the researchers set up cameras around the cavern mouth to get a clear view of the stream. Magrit Betke of Boston University’s computer science department developed algorithms for analyzing the camera’s recordings. Her work basically allowed a computer to pinpoint bats as spots in a camera frame and then track the spots across enough frames to confirm the dots were indeed bats. The analysis ends up with a count of each spot in the vast stream.
 
In a series of counts in 2005, numbers varied from a low of not quite 70,000 as bats started to arrive from their southern winter caves, to a peak about 10 times higher weeks later as migrating bats on their way elsewhere took shelter.
 
Even at the peak, counts came up some 8 million bats short of the old estimate. So the Boston team used the Brazilian free-tails’ average 0.28-meter wingspread to model how many bat wing-beat “spheres” would fit through the cavern in a minute.
 
A choke point inside the cavern narrows to only 120 square meters, and bats don’t fly wall-to-wall. At most, 50,000 bats per minute could fit through that choke point and emerge from the cavern mouth. Thus a single million would be closer to the number of bats possible that wowed Allison.
 
For 8.7 million bats to have flown through the choke point in 18 minutes, as Allison reported, the densest crowd would have had to pass through at 500,000 bats per minute. Their wings and bodies would have had to pass through each other to somehow squeeze through the passage.
 
“The Boston study clearly shows there’s no physical way that could happen,” says Renée West, supervisory biologist for Carlsbad Caverns National Park. “That’s a relief.” The park has discounted Allison’s numbers as excessive, she says, and she’s glad to have the new analysis.
 
“That doesn’t mean these bats aren’t declining,” Hristov says. “The declines just haven’t been as bad.”
 
And for the cavern’s human visitors, hundreds of thousands is still a lot of bats.

[Texascavers] Latest White Nose Syndrome Bat News

[Minton, Mark]

  There's a story about the spread of White Nose Syndrome in bats to 
Pennsylvania at .

Mark Minton

WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME SURFACES IN PENNSYLVANIA
By Joe Kosack
Wildlife Conservation Education Specialist
Pennsylvania Game Commission

SHINDLE, Mifflin County - Aware since 2008 that White-Nose Syndrome appeared to 
be making its way to the Keystone State, the Pennsylvania Game Commission now 
has evidence that the deadly bat disorder is likely present in a mine near this 
small community in the state's heartland. Where else this may be occurring and 
the consequence to bats - a fragile guild of wildlife species - remains an 
unfolding story.

In late December, Dr. DeeAnn Reeder, a biologist with Bucknell University, and 
Greg Turner, a biologist with the Game Commission's Wildlife Diversity Section, 
found bats in an old Mifflin County iron mine that exhibited some of the signs 
of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), during field investigations into bat hibernation 
patterns that included weekly monitoring for the disorder's presence in several 
Pennsylvania hibernacula. During this work, which had been ongoing for weeks, 
dozens of bats suddenly had a fungus appear around their muzzles and on wing 
membranes, while many more displayed other symptoms associated with this 
disorder. Several bats were submitted to the National Wildlife Health Center in 
Madison, Wisconsin, which now is reporting that the bats have preliminarily 
tested positive for the cold-loving fungi found on many bats with WNS.

"Our agency, with assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other 
management partners, will work diligently and methodically to measure the 
extent of the problem in Pennsylvania and monitor the disorder's progression," 
said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. "This find is a direct 
result of the Game Commission's ongoing initiative to proactively monitor for 
WNS.


"To date, no dead bats have been found in Pennsylvania. That's a plus, but it 
comes with no promise of what will or won't follow. In New York and New 
England, the disorder seems to arouse bats from hibernation prematurely. Once 
they depart from caves and mines, they quickly sap their energy reserves and 
die on the landscape. Mortality in some colonies has exceeded 90 percent, 
ensuring that any local recovery will be quite lengthy given the low 
reproductive rate of bats. Little brown and the federally-endangered Indiana 
bats produce only one young per year."

Currently, researchers still are unsure exactly how bats contract WNS and how 
it initially and, ultimately, affects a bat's body. They cannot confirm whether 
the fungus appearing on some bats is a cause or a symptom of the disorder.  
What is clear is that the geographic area where WNS has been documented is 
expanding. It was first found in bat colonies in New York in 2006, and 
subsequently in populations in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont in 2007. 
Now bats in Pennsylvania and New Jersey appear to be affected.


"We do know that the visible fungus appears on some - but not all - bats 
afflicted with WNS, and that a significant percentage of bats in affected 
hibernacula move closer to the entrance," explained Turner. "The bats 
eventually leave their hibernacula - often in daylight, which is unnatural. 
Most of those bats likely die on the landscape, but some may return to the cave 
or mine they left. Researchers cannot determine what bats are searching for, or 
if they're hunting for anything. Most bats found dead on the landscape have 
depleted their fat reserves."


About the only thing certain about WNS is that its ambiguity continues to 
baffle the cadre of researchers who are working long hours to positively 
identify what it is, and if there is anything wildlife managers can do to 
disable it. WNS does appear to be spreading bat-to-bat, but it's unknown 
whether it's passed in summer roosts, or hibernacula, or both.  It also is 
unknown yet whether the cause of WNS will linger in hibernacula without bats.


"Of course, there's also the possibility that bats have been - or are being - 
poisoned somehow," Turner said. "The source could vary; insecticides, 
herbicides, livestock supplements, changes in the composition of building 
materials, even changes in air and water quality. That's what makes this whole 
search so open-ended. But, to date, the disorder is found only in America's 
Northeast, so it would appear the source is here, too. That's a solid lead, if 
it is something like a toxin."


New York and New England have lost tens -maybe even hundreds - of thousands of 
bats to WNS over the past two years. Significant losses to bat populations 
could have ecological consequences because of the role that bats play in the 
environment. Across Pennsylvania, bats eat tractor-trailer loads of insects on 
summer nights, making our backyards more bearable and crop yields more 
bountiful.

"Bats ha

[Texascavers] RE: copyright issues

[Minton, Mark]

 Ediger said:


Copyrighting The CAVER is pretty much a worthless pretense of self-importance.


 The issue was not copyrighting the Texas Caver as a whole, but rather the 
copyright automatically accorded to the author(s) of each article therein.  If 
one of them had a serious issue with an article (s)he had written, (s)he could 
cause trouble if said article were republished without consent.  Personally, I 
cannot imagine that anything published in the Caver would be so embarrassing or 
scandalous that republishing it would be an issue, but at least one person has 
expressed such concerns.  In my opinion, making all past Cavers available in 
some format, even if on CDs available only to TSA members rather than on line, 
would be a tremendous service.  Some back issues of the Caver are essentially 
unavailable outside a few individuals' private collections, and this would 
restore access to potentially useful archival information.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: Copyright Act of 1976

[Minton, Mark]

  Terri Sprouse said:

>While copyright protection for both original works and collective works 
>appears to be established, what is less clear are the rights relating to 
>online re-use of published works by the publisher.

  I have had many articles published in scientific journals, and I do not 
recall ever having signed anything that transfers the copyright for my article 
to the publisher for republishing.  Yet almost all major scientific journals 
have made many if not all of their back issues available online to subscribers. 
 I cannot imagine that they had to go back and get copyright clearance from the 
original authors, many, if not most, of whom would be unreachable after a few 
decades.  As Terri pointed out, the law states "the owner of the collective 
work is presumed to have acquired the privilege of reproducing and distributing 
the contribution as part of that particular collective work, any revision of 
that collective work, and any later collective work in the same series."  AsI 
read that, it does not say the owner has _exclusive_ right to republish, but 
rather that they have the privilege to do so.  That would not seem to preclude 
the publisher of the collective work from likewise republishing the 
contribution of any individual author.  Since online publication of back issues 
of so many journals, newsletters, and newspapers has already taken place, I 
cannot imagine that there is any legal limitation to their doing so, or it 
would have already blocked the process.

Mark Minton

Re: [NMCAVER] NMCAVER Digest, Vol 14, Issue 10

[Minton, Mark]

Pat,


how about sending your messages in plain text so the rest of us can read them?


 As far as I know, it was sent in plain text, but here it is again.  I 
wonder if the digest messed it up, as I don't get mine that way.

Mark


 For the scientifically inclined, there are recent articles in the journal 
Science about the mechanism by which calcium carbonate crystallizes.  If you do not 
have access to Science, you may be able to get it free by registering at 
.

Stable Prenucleation Calcium Carbonate Clusters 
Denis Gebauer, Antje Völkel, Helmut Cölfen

Science, v. 322, p. 1819 (2008)

See also

Now You See Them
Fiona C. Meldrum, Richard P. Sear
Science, v. 322, p. 1802 (2008)

 A less technical summary is available at 
.

Mark Minton
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[Texascavers] RE: The TEXAS CAVER Is Now Online!!!! - Bug fixes

[Minton, Mark]

Butch,

>It should work now, when I fixed the state problem on the register page, I 
>forgot to change something in the JavaScript validation and ended up with a 
>syntax error.

  Unfortunately, not completely.  Now I'm getting a state selection error 
again for Virginia.  VA shows up as my state, but I get an error that says 
"State Select: , State: VA".  Sigh.  A new error has also appeared.  Instead of 
Yes or No in the Display me on the Member list? option, it has my last name as 
my response.  However the registration did appear to go through when I 
submitted it the second time, so we'll see if I actually get approved and can 
edit my profile and see the Texas Caver.  Thanks for keeping on this.

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] Crystallization of Calcium Carbonate

[Minton, Mark]

  For the scientifically inclined, there are recent articles in the journal Science about the mechanism by which calcium carbonate crystallizes.  If you do not have access to Science, you may be able to get it free by registering at .
 
Stable Prenucleation Calcium Carbonate Clusters 
Denis Gebauer, Antje Völkel, Helmut Cölfen
Science, v. 322, p. 1819 (2008)
 
See also
 
Now You See Them
Fiona C. Meldrum, Richard P. Sear
Science, v. 322, p. 1802 (2008)
 
  A less technical summary is available at .
 
Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: The TEXAS CAVER Is Now Online!!!! - Bug fixes

[Minton, Mark]

Butch,

>You can now update your profile online and change the state on both 
>registration and your profile.

  It still doesn't work right for me.  Virginia is now accepted as my 
state, but when I hit Confirm Registration, the same registration screen pops 
back up.  There are no errors listed, but the registration won't go through.  I 
tried it several times in both IE and Firefox.  There is also some strange code 
at the top of the registration form:   (probably irrelevant).

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: The TEXAS CAVER Is Now Online!!!!

[Minton, Mark]

  Lyndon said:

>>Could we make it where it's read only (not downloadable) on the web site?
>Not possible with the internet. In any form (pdf, html, ascii, ebcidic, etc), 
>once you open and read it on your own computer, the binary reprentation of the 
>text is transferred from the TSA web server to your computer. From there, you 
>can copy it and distribute it "wontanly".

  This is definitely true, even for things that people thought they had 
cleverly protected from downloading or printing.  For example, some free trial 
versions of programs allow one to use their functionality but not to save or 
print the results.  I have several of those.  If I want to keep the results, I 
simply make a screen shot and then paste that into a blank image in an image 
manipulation program (IrfanView  is a good free 
one).  I can then select only the relevant portion of the screen shot and paste 
that into a new blank image to get my results free of extraneous headers, 
borders, etc.  Very quick and easy, and the resulting image can be printed or 
whatever.  About the only thing this doesn't cover is making the copied text 
searchable or manipulable, and there are even ways to do that with OCR 
programs.  Once it's on your screen, it's yours to keep if you want it.

  Another trick for keeping things that are not supposed to be savable is 
to find the copy in your computer's cache.  When you download anything using a 
web browser your computer almost always keeps a copy.  That's why you can 
refresh or revisit the page and it comes back up very rapidly.  Generally that 
cached copy is hidden away deep in some obscure system or program folder, but 
if you can find it, you can copy it.  I used to to that with YouTube videos, 
which do not have an obvious mechanism for saving them.  One way to find those 
obscure cahed files is to search for files based on date/time.  If it's the 
last thing you did, it will generally be one of the last couple of files saved. 
 Where there's a will, there's a way.  :-)

Mark Minton

[Texascavers] RE: The TEXAS CAVER Is Now Online!!!!

[Minton, Mark]

  Lyndon said:

>>both times it returned the page with the state blank and an error saying I 
>>needed to select a state. 
>I kept mine blank and the registration went through without trouble.

  Okay; thanks!  I'll try that if it doesn't get fixed soon.  It would be 
nice to have my state properly listed along with the address, although of 
course one could figure it out from the zip code if necessary.

>But while viewing the online version of TC, you can always print it out of 
>your own computer's printer and that printed copy can be yours forever.

  Of course, assuming one has a printer.  But that sort of defeats the 
purpose of having an electronic copy so that one doesn't use up a lot of paper. 
 Actually, if the online Texas Caver issues are pdf documents, then one could 
simply save those to their personal hard drive, preserving them for future use. 
 That's a wise thing to do anyway, in case the TSA server ever goes away.  
Another big advantage of electronic newsletters is that they can be searched, 
which makes finding things a lot easier.

Mark Minton

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[Texascavers] RE: The TEXAS CAVER Is Now Online!!!!

[Minton, Mark]

Mark and Butch,

>Through the technical wizardry of our webmaster extraordinaire, Butch Fralia, 
>PAID TSA members can now sign themselves up to view the latest TC online, each 
>and every time!

  When I tried to register, the site would not allow me to select Virginia 
as my state.  I tried it on both Internet Explorer and Firefox, and both times 
it returned the page with the state blank and an error saying I needed to 
select a state.  Selecting Virginia a second time simply gave the same error.  
Please fix this registration page so that non-Texans may register!

>Butch has added Darla and Denise as administrators and they will verify that 
>you are a "Member in Good Standing" and will check this periodically. You will 
>be notified if your dues are about to expire and will be unceremoniously 
>kicked off if your dues are not renewed.
>In other words, "No TC for you!" (Seinfeld reference).

   While I wholeheartedly support electronic newsletters, I take exception 
to denying access to all past issues after one's membership lapses.  All issues 
published while one was an active member should remain accessible to that 
person even after their membership expires.  This is the biggest failing of 
many electronic journals, especially for libraries.  With the paper version, 
all issues you pay for are yours forever.  With the electronic version, one now 
has nothing if their membership lapses.  It doesn't have to be that way, 
although I suspect it is considerably more complex to implement.  Some 
electronic journals do indeed allow one continued access to all issues paid 
for, but no others.  Texas Caver should be the same.  Please consider revising 
your policy so that we get to keep access to what we pay for.

Thanks,
Mark Minton

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