Group hopes new gate on San Marcos cave will bring bats back

Published 10:35 am Monday, March 9, 2015

Little brown bat in cave myotis lucifugus (from commons.wikimedia.org)

SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) — Caretakers of a Central Texas cave hope a new gate over the entrance will mean a return of the bats that once made it their home.

The San Antonio Express-News reports that volunteer members of the Texas Cave Management Association worked Sunday to replace the old gate at Ezell’s Cave in San Marcos. They hope the new gate spurs the return of cave myotis bats, a medium-sized brown bat.


The group purchased Ezell’s Cave from the Nature Conservancy in 2004.

About 20 years ago, the previous owner installed the gate spanning the mouth of the cave to discourage intruders. But the gate — constructed of horizontal metal tubes that were flush to the ground and embedded in concrete — interrupted the bats’ flight path.

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