Past this the cave again regains its plodding rather dull state. Meandering stream passage topped by meandering canyon, at one point we follow a small side passage, which abruptly pinches out. But alas it’s a new project, easier than any Woodard trip (and not nearly as dangerous). And as we turn around with no less than three different strings of cave still ahead of us, muddy, soaked, and completely contented Peg states “This could be a fun survey project.”
(continued in Part II)

(Brooke Slack)

present: Brooke Slack, Ryan Slack, Keith Hayden, Sarah Bell, Matt Simpson, Jerry Dixon, Kasey Webb and Arthur Cammers.

The survey identified Indiana bats – 22, Little brown bats – 219, Eastern pipistrelle bats – 75, Big brown bats – 2. of these the former are in the most trouble. The majority of the bats were roosting in the huge domes 30 to 50 feet from the bottom of the cave. Since Sinks is such a common cave explored by our readers many times -- most

recently collectively during a clean up -- let’s focus on the study of bats and the techniques employed in counting bats. This area is a focus in Brooke Slack’s research. From her description below, it is obviously easier to count them while they sleep.
(Brooke Slack) Bats in eastern North America are insectivorous and forage near water or in wooded areas.  To do this at night, bats use echolocation to find food and to navigate while in flight.  Echolocation calls of bats are actually ultrasonic pulses (pulses humans can’t hear).  Researchers have used this knowledge to their advantage by incorporating ultrasonic bat detectors into their studies.  These “bat detectors” come in many shapes and sizes and can identify a bat in flight down to the species
level based on the sequence of its call.  One of the more common bat detectors used is called the Anabat II.  This device can detect the echolocation calls bats use while feeding and navigating and send these calls to a flashcard.  The flashcard is then uploaded onto a PC and