Chattanooga - Bats

The guest log of the cabin we stayed in recommended a trip to the local bat cave.  Turns out this isn't an ordinary bat cave.  This one is home to roosting grey bats, nearly 100,000.  They leave the cave each night at dusk and it takes nearly 45 min for them all to exit.

We set out after dinner for a leisurely hike to the cave entrance.  During the civil war, saltpeter (a gun powder ingredient) was mined here by the confederates.  Later, it was run by the same man who discovered the Ruby Falls we visited early.  Eventually the Tennessee Valley Authority created Lake Nickajack by dam and flooded the bottom half of the cave.

Micah and Anna got a little restless waiting for the exodus to begin.  And we were well into it before we realized the bats weren't flying straight out the entrance but to the side, over our heads. 

You can't tell from this picture but this is the view straight up from the viewing platform.  My camera couldn't catch them but at this instant there are hundreds of bats flying through the air.  The coolest thing is how they were following the outline of the tree rather than flying straight across the sky.  (Think of the pattern of air as it moves over the contour of a car in a wind tunnel.)  We could not hear a single sound but the bats were everywhere.  I tried to explain echolocation to Anna but I don't think we got very far.

The walk back to the car was just as amazing.  A quiet stroll beside the lake on a smooth board walk lit only by the moon and the flashing of fireflies.

S