OLIVE HILL — The federally endangered Indiana Bat colonies of Carter County will be living in yet another gated community.
Work started this week to construct a large bat gate across the entrance to Big Bone Cave, which is in a 181-acre addition to the Tygart State Forest known as the Adkins Tract. The $14,000 project will allow the bats free access to the cave, but will keep humans out.
The pace to close off area caves to humans picked up this year when more than 100 of the protected bats were killed in October in nearby Laurel Cave, on Carter Caves State Resort Park property. Those deaths were an act of vandalism and a $5,000 reward is pending for information leading to arrests.
Brent Harrel of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said another life-threatening danger to the bats is gaining attention. Last winter, tens of thousands of bats in the northeast United States died from what is being called “white-nose syndrome.” The syndrome is thought to be caused by a white fungus that forms on the bats’ muzzles.
When the bats awaken from hibernation in mid-winter to clean off the fungus, they burn stored body fat and starve to death.
“We have to get these bats here safe so we can observe behavior and migration patterns,” Harrel said, watching steel being hand-carried to the mouth of Big Bone Cave. “We know they can migrate as far as Michigan; and we have to keep them safe so we can better understand them.”
Chuck Wilburn, district forester with the Kentucky Division of Forestry, said the pristine condition of the cave was just one reason the location of the cave has been kept low-key since the tract was added to the state forest in November 2006.
“We didn’t want many people knowing exactly the location, the place is just so clean,” he said. “With the gate up, we can keep people from going in there and disturbing the place.”
Human access to the Adkins Tract is limited to foot traffic because of the cave and an earlier project started in April. For that project, nearly all of the former farm land has been planted with 28,000 trees, which won’t be available for harvesting for at least 80 years.
JOHN FLAVELL can be reached at jflavell@adelphia.net or (606) 326-2659.
Local News
Related Photos
-
John Flavell
Discussion
Another gated community in Carter County
Bats will have free rein of cave with no human presence
- Local News
-
-
Bankruptcy filings: 2/10/12
Bankruptcy filings in the Eastern District of U.S. Bankruptcy Court include the following:
-
Russell Independent School District
A new gym floor at Russell High School will cost somewhere between $71,000 and $107,000, school board members learned Thursday.
-
Workers reject contract offer
Hourly workers at Marathon Petroleum’s Catlettsburg refinery on Wednesday rejected a contract offer from the company.
-
UW campaign tops $780,000
While the economy of this region continues to struggle, the people of northeastern Kentucky again proved this is a caring and giving area by easily surpassing the ambitious $750,000 for the 2011 campaign of the United Way of Northeast Kentucky.
-
LRC plans to appeal judge’s ruling
The leadership of the General Assembly announced Thursday it plans to appeal Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd’s ruling that the legislature’s plan to re-draw state legislative boundaries is unconstitutional.
-
School personnel pleased to be in ‘unprecedented’ territory with snow days
Mid-February usually is the time when school administrators start worrying about how many days they will have to tack on to the end of the year to make up for the ones missed because of snow.
-
Opposition to planned sewer extension
The Boyd County Fiscal Court could be removing $60,000 in grant money after complaints about the sewer project it would have funded.
-
Business touts better living
Yvette Pennington is a true believer in the power of living better as we live longer.
-
Police beat: 2/9/12
The following information was taken from Ashland Police Department reports:
-
Safe Harbor benefits from Shop and Share Day
Shop and Share Day brought a record number of donations to Safe Harbor of Northeast Kentucky.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Bankruptcy filings: 2/10/12
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
