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| Well... it's time for the Alabaster Caverns Bat Count (ABC17) | It was a chilly morning with a north wind keeping us bundled up! | OK State Parks, ODWC, Volunteers from Selman Bat Watch and Alabaster Caverns staff were part of the count this year. |
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| Mike gave us an overall briefing and then we headed down to the cave. | On our way down.... | |
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| Once inside we got a cave safety talk before splitting into groups... | ||
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| One group would stay on (or near the trail) and count bats.... | While another group would go into "Lower Cave" to get the bat count down there. | Entering Lower Cave |
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| The entrance is just by the trail... | Though no-one would know otherwise... | You come down a little chute headfirst or feet first... |
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| and into the small room before the crawl entrance down below. | It's a good little test to see if anyone freaks out before getting too far off trail! | Everyone gets a small briefing on what is to be ahead down here.... |
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| And then they are off on their own for about 45 minutes to an hour... | Then they meet the others later on the trail up in main cave. | The entrance from near lower cave. |
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| Meanwhile back on the trail... | The cave is many large rooms with the bats hiding in every nook and cranny. | Even very bright lights sometimes don't keep the brightness factor when beamed up 100 ft to the ceiling! |
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| Sometimes we have to use shadows to see if it is one bat or two... | Moving directly under them takes away that shadow and two become one. | Cave Crystals |
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| Mike showing some of State Parks guys the crystals in the cave. | Shining a bright flashlight into the crystal illuminates a lot of area. | Pretty stuff! |
