Page 4 - 2018 MAY/JUNE Outdoor Oklahoma

Off the Beaten Path

Off the Beaten Path

Not es oN Wildlife • ou t door ti ps • r ea ders’ let t ers • eN v i roN meN ta l NeWs
C om piled by doN p. broW N

“IRON GATE CAVE” FINALLY GETS A GATE

Deep in the Delaware County hills, a small cave awaits spring’s
return of migrating gray bats. Biologists took steps this winter to
make the cave safer for these endangered bats by installing a gate JENA DONNELL/ODWC
at the mouth of the cave. Although it’s named Iron Gate Cave, it
hasn’t been protected by a gate in recent history.
The distance from a truck parked atop the hill to Iron Gate
Cave and the work site below is half the length of a football
field. Though short in distance, the trail includes a steep slope,
loose rocks and fallen leaves that are deceptively slick.
At the end of the trail, a rock tunnel leads into a limestone
cave, where a gate is being installed to minimize disturbance to
any wildlife — including bats — that may call the cave home.
“We’ve done a lot of the design work for the cave gate in
our shop,” said Russell Perry, biologist for the Oklahoma
Department of Wildlife Conservation. “Several pieces of angle
iron have been cut to fit the width of the cave walls, and now
we need to get those 30- to 40-pound pieces down the hill and
welded in place.”
Cave gate design has changed considerably in the past quar-
ter-century. Full doors or metal cages covering the entrances of
the caves have largely been replaced with a series of horizontal A sled on a rope was used to deliver gate pieces to the work site.
bars made of angle iron placed about 50 feet into the cave, or in passing the beams that will eventually be welded in place.
the cave’s dark zone. These “dark zone” gate locations were first “These horizontal bars will be welded to the frame and spaced
attempted nationwide in our state when exterior features at the so that the bats can still safely fly into and out of the cave.”
mouth of two caves in Delaware and Adair counties wouldn’t Though mostly vacant in winter months, Iron Gate Cave
allow for a traditional cage design. Since then, interior gates has served as a maternity ward for gray bats in the past,
have become accepted protocol for cave gating throughout the including last spring when their more traditional maternity
United States. cave was flooded and the bats chose Iron Gate Cave as a sub-
When all the supplies arrive at the mouth of Iron Gate Cave, stitute. This cave also houses a few overwintering bats and is a
Perry and a six-person team form an assembly line and begin summer roosting spot for species including the tri-colored bat
and federally threatened northern long-eared bat. A variety
JENA DONNELL/ODWC of cave insects and salamanders have also been documented
using the cave.
“Our ‘cave bats' are sensitive to human disturbance, especial-
ly during their winter hibernation and their spring and summer
maternity season,” Perry said. “The goal of this new gate is to
give the bats a little more protection so that they can continue
to survive in our state.”
Go to https://tinyurl.com/OklaBatHelp for more on bats in
Oklahoma.
Supplies for and construction of this cave gate were provided
by a Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program Grant, with
technical support from Keith Martin and Bill Puckette.
— Jena Donnell, Wildlife Diversity Specialist

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