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The 100-foot (30 m)-wide crescent shaped opening to the cave lies at the bottom of a sinkhole, formed when the roof of the cave collapsed. It is the summer home to the largest colony of bats in the world. An estimated 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats roost in the cave from March to October making it the largest known concentration of mammals ...
Originally known as the Oklahoma Bat Caves National Wildlife Refuge, Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge was established for the protection of endangered bats and their habitat. The refuge is made up of several parcels of land located in northeastern Oklahoma. These parcels contain numerous caves considered crucial for the bats' survival.
Since the shut down of the railway, the tunnel has become a bat cave, hosting over 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats and 3000 Cave myotis bats. The bats emerge at sunset during the months of May through October, and viewing is open to the public. [2] At 16.1 acres, it is the smallest state park in Texas. [3]
The cave contains about 9,000 of these as well, many more than any other cave in the region. In addition, the cave is one of the world's three or four largest hibernation sites for little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus), containing over 100,000 individual bats. Finally, the cave is also home to at least four other bat species.
The bat species found in the cave are the cave myotis, Western big-eared bat, eastern pipistrelle, Western big brown bat, and the Mexican free-tailed bat. Alabaster Caverns State Park personnel made a count of the bats in the caverns in January 2024 and reported over 12,000. In 2016, the count reported about 16,000. [9]
The temperature of hibernation caves ranges from 40 to 50 °F (4.4 to 10 °C). [5] The Ozark big-eared bats use caves all year around, thus they are highly susceptible to extinction if their homes vary too greatly in temperature, are disturbed, or are destroyed. [5] The Ozark big-eared bats once lived in caves in Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma,.
Coal miners from West Virginia – whom locals have lovingly dubbed the “West Virginia Boys” – moved a mountain in just three days to reopen a 2.7-mile stretch of Highway 64 between Bat Cave ...
The cave nectar bat is found in primary forests and in disturbed and agricultural areas. It roosts in caves, in larger groups, with some roosts exceeding 50,000 individuals, and it sometimes roosts with other bat species. In some places, this species seems to have adapted well to leafy, semi-urban habitats.