Carlsbad CavernsNov 2, 2007
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The Big Room at Carlsbad Caverns
| After we left Timberon we traveled South to Carlsbad Caverns National Park which is located in southeast New Mexico and toured the caverns. WOW! We have been to several caverns in the past but none of them compare to Carlsbad Caverns. After taking the elevator down 750 feet (75 floors in 1 minute) we entered the largest of the caverns which is known as the Big Room and boy was it big. It was over 600,000 square feet and over 14 football fields could fit into the room. There is a nice walking trail through the room that passes by lots of beautiful formations. One of the things that Rick really wanted to see was the flying of the Mexican free-tailed bats that happens each evening in the summer and fall months. We heard that they are usually gone by October, heading to Mexico for the winter so we were really excited to learn they were still there. After we toured the caverns, we headed down to the ampitheater and waited quietly at the mouth of another cavern for the mass exodus to happen. The bats leave each evening to feed and fly up to 35 miles each night. After a short program by the ranger, the waiting began. She said you normally smell the bats before you actually see them so we sat with our noses to the wind and waited. They flew out the night before at 4:38. We waited almost 2 hours, it was getting dark and cold, but we finally began to hear the movement and then all of the sudden, there they were, hundreds and hundreds of them flying out of the mouth of the cave. They would circle around the mouth of the cave a couple of times, then up they would go into the sky. It was really amazing, they kept coming and coming, it was considered a thick flight and we were really lucky to have seen it. One interesting fact we learned was that bats don't eat mosquitos, they actually eat moths. Photos aren't allowed at the bat flight. They say the noise and flash would scare them. |
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