carbide miners lamps attached to the front of the helmet has washed the walls of the cave with light yellow. David socky enjoyed the thrill of excitement and anticipation, he often feels while exploring the cave. The feeling was particularly strong today as he and a handful of other cavers surveyed a blank section of the Wolf River Cave in Tennessee. When they noticed several large bones coming out from under a rock in the middle of the narrow passage, their heart jumped. At this time, none of them imagined that would greatly increase the chance discovery of paleontological record for the state.
“At the time we thought they might be the bones of bears,” said socky discovery, which took place in the mid-1970s. “After taking some pictures, we continued our work of investigation.
“We sent the photos to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. Archaeologists have identified the bones as well as those of a type Jaguar, which had been off for at least 10,000 years.
“After having obtained all permits and so on, the bones were removed and are now in the museum.”
Today marks the beginning of the Virginia Cave week. It is designed to promote a better understanding of caves of the state and surrounding habitats known as limestone karst.
Sponsored by the Virginia Cave Board, its main objective is to encourage educators in all subjects to engage students from kindergarten to high school in activities that will broaden their knowledge of these underground wonders.
Grand Caverns, Natural Bridge Caverns and Shenandoah Caverns are offering discounts to visitors Saturday who refer to Virginia Cave weeks when purchasing a ticket. The theme of this year, “which is killing our bats,” refers to the white nose syndrome.
“WNS is a newly appointed fungus that was discovered in 2006 in New York,” said Meredith Hall Weberg, a member of the Board and the Virginia Cave chair of its education. “He slipped into down the East Coast each winter and was discovered here in Virginia, last April.
“This fungus grows on the face of a bat’s wings and degrades. It mainly causes them to wake up during the winter when they are supposed to be hibernating. They go in search of food, but of course, the insects they eat are not there, and they end up depleting their energy reserves and die. It’s very tragic, and more than a million bats are dead already.
Information on the current state of WNS and what happens here can be found at http://www.vacaveweek.com, and on the website of the National Society of Speleology, which is http://www. caves.org. Socky said the hope is that the theme of awareness and perhaps encourage people to donate will be used to help eradicate the deadly plague.
“Bats are an essential factor when it comes to fighting against insects and fertilization,” said socky, who is also a member of the Virginia Cave Board. “The only way this problem can be solved is to know exactly what causes it, and then find a way of denying the problem.”
Socky has been caving since 1974. Two of his specialties is surveying caves and videos of their interiors.
The resident of Roanoke is the founder and owner of Hodag Video Productions, which produces DVD on various outdoor activities such as caving, hiking and mountaineering. Although interested in all these things, his life revolves around caving.
“Caves are one of the easiest ways left on planet Earth to actually go to places where nobody has ever been,” said socky. “If you follow the rules, common sense and receive appropriate training is one of the safest things you can do.
“Sure, you can make it expensive if you want to buy all the latest equipment. But if you just want to make horizontal caving, it is very inexpensive.
“Caving to me and my family is something that we, more or less live, eat and breathe.”
Socky wife, Mary Sue, said caving is not for everyone. For example, those who are claustrophobic will not like the narrow confines.
But for those who like to explore, and do not mind getting dirty and muddy, she believes that there is nothing like caving.
“It [caving] always annoyed my father,” said Mary Sue socky. “My family is from McDowell County, West Virginia, which is a mining country.
“I remember my father once saying:” We came here to escape the mine, and what you do, but turn right and into hiding. “But I like it because it is so peaceful there.
“You can turn off the light, and relax. You get a total workout, and Mother Nature in the cave do not care if you have hair and nails done or not.”
Do not make the mistake of calling one a caver caver. More likely than not, you will know immediately that the cavers cavers rescue.
A caver, a caver is someone who does not meet all the precautions taken regularly cavers. For example, cavers will never enter a cave with a group of fewer than four persons.
The reason is that if someone gets hurt, a person can stay with the injured caver while two others for help. Another rule is not negotiable is that all cavers must have a minimum of three sources of light on his person.
Become a caver and not a caver is as easy as contacting the nearest cave, which is what clubs are called cave. The Cave of Charlottesville began in 1946.
Grotto members to educate newcomers on the back and not to the popular activity. Join a grotto will also provide access to the caves are normally closed to the public in general.
“There are over 4,000 known caves in Virginia, and each is owned by someone,” said Weberg, who is a member of the Grotto of Fredericksburg, which is called Battlefield Area Troglodyte Society, or bats for short.
“Generally, in the east, wild caves are on private land, then you must request permission from the owner to go in them. A wild cave is a cave you just do not charge money to go in.
“Many wild caves are closed and locked. This is to prevent vandalism and to keep people from coming in during the winter when bats are hibernating or summer, when the colonies Maternity is the heart. ”
Cavers do important work in caves, such as monitoring of water quality and pollution. Given their decades of keeping an eye on the populations of bats in the caves, the devastating effects WNS is calculated accurately.
And, of course, there are the unexpected discoveries, as socky and its partners is caving in the 1970s. The discovery of the bones has led to the preservation of other parts of the story.
“About a year and a half before our discovery, others have found footprints Indian in the same cave,” said David socky. “They have been carbon dated and found to 4000.
“After our discovery, plaster casts of the footprints were made while archaeologists were in the cave to remove the bones. The models are now in the museum as well. ”
These days socky spend time each month the conduct of his house in Roanoke Cumberland Gap Cave in Kentucky. In collaboration with the Cave Research Foundation, he contributes to the investigation as far as the cave, which extends 15 miles.
“When you love like caves cavers do you want to protect them,” said socky. “One way to do this is to ensure that people who go into the caves are educated enough that they do not know affect things.
“A lot of times where the caves are dependent, because you have hooligans who go and ruin things. “Oh, the formation of cool, and they break something that took thousands of years to form and it’s gone forever.”
Virginia Cave Week runs through Saturday. Grand Caverns, Natural Bridge Caverns and Shenandoah Caverns offer a discount to those who evoke the Virginia Cave weeks when buying a ticket. For more information or to make a donation to help in the fight against WNS go http://www.vacaveweek.com. To find a caving club near you go to http://www.caves.org.
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