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| You meet your BCI representative on a public road at a locked gate. He checks his list, lets you drive in and you wait for the others to arrive. | We drive for a couple of miles and then we all get out and meet in the gathering area. The guide will tell you a little bit about the Mexican Free Tail and the area we're in. | For instance, this was used by soldiers during the Civil War and WWI as a barracks to protect the cave as they were mining minerals out of it for gunpowder. |
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| Here is the shed that held the vertical mine shaft that leads to the back of the cave. | It's about 30 feet down and WHOA!! Not only a good guano smell but the most intense ammonia smell I have ever smelled in a cave. So strong it hurt your eyes! | Also the heat coming from that mine shaft was pretty hot!! So combine guano, ammonia, and the heat and you wouldn't last long at all down there! |
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| While our guide was talking about the MFT (Mexican Free Tail), they started flying (it was 6:30 p.m.!!!) | It slowly got thicker and thicker | And thicker... |
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| and the guy kept on talking.... HEY! I want to see the cave entrance! <grin> | He finally could tell from some of our movements and antics that we weren't paying attention to him. He said this is just the first flight of about 8 tonight. | They come out in groups here... that makes sense. 36 million bats at one time would be a 'bit' crowded! <grin> |
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| If this was the first flight... wow! I can't wait to see the rest! While I was at my hotel about 10 miles away we had a giant thunderstorm. They were heading toward the rain. | It hasn't rained here in 3 months and even the crops are failing... hence, the bugs population isn't too high, hence again, the bats have to fly further to find food!! | Finally we moved on to a natural amphitheater.. rocks along the side of the sinkhole looking right into the mouth of Bracken Cave. |
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| You can go about 10 feet into the cave without an ammonia filter...15 feet you'll pass out from the intensity of the ammonia. We waited about 45 minutes and the 2nd flight started. | And they were wanting to come out!! This group lasted about 40 - 50 minutes. I can't tell you how many were coming out. They don't have a true count either just estimates of about 3-7 million per group. | And no collisions! Good flyers!! After that group flew, our guide said the next would begin in 45 min to 1 hr and it would be too late to get back to the cars, so we left by 8:30... nightfall (darkness) was close by at 9:00 so it was a good call! |
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