Carlsbad Caverns

We've been here before and so have Jim and Lynnae, but we all wanted to visit again, so here we are.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is in South-East New Mexico and has a real neat bat cave.

We entered it on a ranger-led tour.

This is the summer home of thousands of Mexican Freetail Bats.

They roost here from March to October, hanging from the ceiling by day and hunting insects by night.

It's February now, so no one is home.

They are big eaters, consuming 1/2 their body weight in one flight.

 In some places in the cave, guano is on the floor to a depth of 40 feet.

This ladder was installed in 1924 during exploration by the National Geographic Society and descends 90 feet into a lower cave.

Here is Judy checking for spiders with her new LED flashlight she bought in Quartzsite for $2.

    You can learn a lot more about caves and bats at ;  www.carlsbad caverns.org.