In the interest of full, technical accuracy, I am actually sitting down as I write. "Stand corrected" is a figure of speech. Similarly, I know that bats don't make or use nests.  I just thought "don't mess with their nests" sounds good, and gets the idea across. I didn't know, as Kastning writes, that humans and bats are close kin on the evolutionary tree, and he also suggested another website for more about bats.

I was truly floored to hear that, contrary to what I'd been told, there are real caves in New Hampshire… at least 60 of them, Kastning writes.

“They are not the typical caves created by groundwater dissolving passages and caves from rocks such as limestone, marble, and gypsum and replete with stalactites, stalagmites, and other formations,” he writes. “New Hampshire caves are formed from metamorphic and igneous rocks by fracturing, physical weathering, and accumulation of boulders (talus).  These are natural processes that can produce some very interesting caves.”

I'm always happy to hear of new places to explore. I've been to the Polar Caves, and to my mind, they hardly count as caves. It's like a big boulder field, with spaces under some of the bigger boulders. It’s great fun to clamber around and through them, but you never feel as though you’re deep underground.

There’s a similar, but much larger cave system somewhere in Grafton County, Kastning writes, “with just over a mile of interconnected openings within a large accumulation of talus.” It’s the longest cave in all New England, he writes, but it’s closed to the public. Darn.

I still remember seeing the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky, though I don't recall exactly how young I was at the time. We took a guided tour, and at one point - in the midst of a large cavern - they turned off the lights for a few moments. I have never experienced darkness so complete (seen isn't the word for it), before or since. It was really neat. Then the guide lit a single match... it illuminated the whole space. The stalactites and stalagmites were beautiful and awe inspiring, too. More recently, my folks, my son and myself visited Lost World Caverns during a trip to West Virginia. It’s a smaller, but similar limestone cave, full of formations that resemble dribble castles one might make at the beach, only shiny and smooth.

Such cave systems are scattered all over the southern United States, apparently. The deepest cave in the United States, and fifth largest in the world, was just discovered in 1986. From what I’ve read, access to Lechuguilla Cave is extremely limited and difficult, but you can see footage in the Planet Earth video series, or take a ‘virtual tour’ online.

Here is Kastning’s full letter, written in response to the Telegraph story on White Nose Syndrome. He’s very kind:

Dear Editor,

Being a speleologist (one who studies caves – not to be confused with spelunker, one who goes adventuring in caves), I have been following the White Nose Syndrome that has affected bats in three northeastern states for several months.  I wish to commend Andrew Wolfe and the Telegraph for bringing this issue to the attention of the residents of New Hampshire.  All organisms have an important niche in the ecosystem.  Not only do bats keep down some insect populations, but in other parts of the U.S. and the world they are extremely important pollinators.  Bats have been misunderstood and often misaligned in the minds of many people.  They are not blind, they do not tangle in people’s hair, except for a few species not indigenous to the eastern U.S., they are not vampires.  We are encouraged to think of bats as scary and symbolic of demons, especially around Halloween.  As Mr. Wolfe writes, “…they give you the willies.”  In fact bats are some of the most docile and harmless creatures one can encounter in the wild.  And I agree with the author that they are cute little creatures.

The article is a good summary of what we know so far about the new threat to bats and the research being done to understand and perhaps cure the problem.  However, I need to clarify two misstatements in the article.

Birds and rodents make nests, bats do not.  Bats are flying mammals, not related to birds.  Bats are not rodents, despite the German name for bat, fledermaus (which translates literally as ‘flying mouse’).  Bats roost in caves, mines, barns, trees, and elsewhere, depending on the species.  They hang upside-down by their hind legs.  They bare live pups that cling to the mother bat while young.  There is no nest involved.

Humans have a kinship to bats.  Based on anatomy and physiology, humans are more closely related to bats on the evolutionary ‘tree of life’ than to all other mammals, save for other primates.  To learn more about bats and White Nose Syndrome, visit Bat Conservation International (www.batcon.org).

My second clarification relates to the statement in the article that “New Hampshire doesn’t have any natural caves.”  This is untrue.  There are over 60 documented caves in the state.  My caving colleagues and I are finding more caves each year, mapping them, and adding them to the speleological inventory.  Yes. They are not the typical caves created by groundwater dissolving passages and caves from rocks such as limestone, marble, and gypsum and replete with stalactites, stalagmites, and other formations.  New Hampshire caves are formed from metamorphic and igneous rocks by fracturing, physical weathering, and accumulation of boulders (talus).  These are natural processes that can produce some very interesting caves.  Two such groups of caves in New Hampshire are popular attractions, being the only show caves open to the touring public in New England, namely Lost River Gorge near Kinsman Notch and Polar Caves near Rumney.  Undoubtedly, many of your readers have been through these caves.  A cave system in Grafton County, with just over a mile of interconnected openings within a large accumulation of talus is the longest cave in New England.   It is the currently 1006^th longest known cave in the nation and is not open to the public.  Not bad, when one considers that states such as Missouri, Kentucky Tennessee, Alabama, West Virginia, and Virginia each have thousands of documented caves in soluble rock.  Many caves in New Hampshire have a fascinating human history.

If any readers of the Nashua Telegraph have stumbled upon caves in the Granite State and wish to have them included in the state inventory, please have them contact me.

Ernst H. Kastning, Ph.D., P.G.

Surficial Mapping Program Manager

New Hampshire Geological Survey

New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services

29 Hazen Drive, P.O. Box 95

Concord, New Hampshire 03302-0095