Bat Killers Ignore Cave Closure

About a fifth of the caves in northern Gooding and Shoshone counties have been closed for the winter to protect hibernating bats, but not everyone has gotten the message.

“So far, we’ve had seven documented violations,” said Monty White, a Shoshone-based law enforcement ranger with the Bureau of Land Management.

Closure signs have been torn down, and some of the caves appear to have been entered, White said.

Bureau officials cannot say how much, if any, vandalism has occurred in the caves because they are respecting the cave closure.

Bats are the No. 1 consumer of southern Idaho’s nocturnal insects, said Paula Perletti, who heads the local Bureau of Land Management bat program.

To make life easier for hibernating bats, 10 caverns were closed more than a month ago.

The caves are a magnet for spelunkers, but they also draw vandals.

Only about 300 bats are left in the closed caves. Overall, local bat populations are estimated to be down 60 percent from the late 1980s, Perletti said.

Once disturbed by noise, smoke, or light, it takes hours for bats to rouse themselves from the deep sleep of hibernation - a process that drains them of energy and greatly increases their risk of death.

Populations do not increase quickly because mature females only have one “pup” per year, and the mortality rate for pups is fairly high.