Caney Hollow Cave

This past Saturday, March 17th, we went down to Franklin County to survey Caney Hollow Cave while the gray bat colony is still away for the winter. Heather Garland organized the trip, and Ken Oeser led the survey. The rest of the team consisted of Joe Douglas, Kristen Bobo, Becky Dettorre, Lauren, and me.

It was almost a fine Spring day: a bit cold, with a steady breeze making it feel more so, but plenty of sunshine, and wildflowers coming up all over.

Caney Hollow Cave has 5 entrances along the bluff face. Two are large and scenic, and the others are small and/or hidden behind boulders. It took a while to survey the entrance area, and then we got started down the main passage. We soon discovered that some of the bats have moved back in early (they aren't usually back before April 1st). Perhaps that warm spell last week roused them from hibernation early. We found that we could get into the side passages without going through the bat roost, so we surveyed in them for a few more hours and then called it a day. We'll have to wait until next winter to finish. Ken tallied our distance at about 1800 feet, and estimates that was about half of the cave.

Back outside, several of us took a short walk up the hollow to Caney Rockshelter Cave. This big rockshelter barely qualifies as a cave, with one small passage going in about 70 feet.