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Aspirator  Michael E. Slay uses an aspirator or "pooter" to collect tiny insects in Cleveland Cave, St. Clair County, Missouri, May 2003. ©William R. Elliott, 2003.

Bat Cave #1 Project: Cave gating team at Bat Cave #1, Franklin County, Missouri, By William R. Elliott. 7-21-05.  We began the difficult restoration of a major Gray Bat cave.

This upper entrance had been bulldozed shut many years before. A backhoe was used to remove tons of fill, then we built a modern, angle-iron bat gate. L to R: Kevin Debrecht, Jim Kaufmann,

Anna Ford, Melissa Lewis, Amanda Benefield, Katie Derr, Larry Sanderson, Scott Kelley, Bill Elliott, Mike Hubbard, Leonard Butts. Not shown: Bob Gillespiea nd Darby Caton, who worked the day before.

Bat Cave #1 Project: Keep cool!  Anna Ford's fan cools Jim Kaufmann, cave gate leader, and Katie Derr. Bat Cave #1, Franklin County, Missouri.  By William R. Elliott, 7-22-05.

Bat Cave data logger  Ben Miller uses a digital thermometer on rope at the ceiling of Bat Cave, Shannon Co., Missouri. Rick Clawson watches. By William R. Elliott, Sept. 2000.

Bat people  Dr. Gary McCracken (right) and students with ammonia respirators in T Cave, Blanco Co., Texas, a Myotis velifer, or Cave Myotis, site. By William R. Elliott, June 1984.

Bat photographers Val Hildreth-Werker and Jim Werker quietly photograph Mexican Free-tailed Bats in the Bat Cave section of Carlsbad Caverns, using infrared light. Their stealthy forays

track population trends in the bats. Infrared photo by Val Hildreth-Werker and Jim Werker, provided by Dale Pate, Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Bat stain Cavers survey an old bat stain in Beck Bat Cave for Myotis velifer. Left to right: Bill Larsen, Rex Wahl, Cynthia Grant, Rune Burnett and Merlin Tuttle. By William R. Elliott, Feb. 1987.

Beetle arena   Dr. Tom Poulson and a cave beetle arena in Great Onyx Cave, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. ©William R. Elliott, 2000.

Ben Miller with digital thermometer prepares to ascend a rope to the ceiling of Bat Cave, Shannon Co., Missouri. By William R. Elliott, Sept. 2000.

Bill Elliott examining Gray Bat guano in the Batmobile Room, Tumbling Creek Cave, Taney County, Missouri. By Steve Samoray, 10-30-2003.

Bill Elliott in Mushroom Cave, Missouri shows diagnostic characters of a bat to Natural Areas Conference 2000 field trip, Meramec State Park, Missouri. ©David C. Ashley, 2000.

Bill Elliott retrieves data  from a Hobo Pro® data logger during a study of Indiana bat hibernacula. By William R. Elliott and Rick Clawson, Missouri Department of Conservation, 1999.

Bill Elliott uses a turkey baster to sample a drip pool for amphipods, Forester Cave, Shannon County, Missouri. By Stefan Koenemann and William R. Elliott, May 1999.

Bill Elliott & Rick Walk discuss how to place a data logger on the ceiling of Bat Cave, Shannon County, Missouri. By Jim Rathert, September 1998.

Bob Lerch  at the entrance of Hunter's Cave, Boone Co., Missouri, where he conducted water quality research, by William R. Elliott, 1999.

Bug search   Dr. Jerry Lewis, biospeleologist, checks detritus for invertebrates in Russell Cave, Alabama. ©William R. Elliott, 1999.

Cave stream bioinventory Mick Sutton and Sue Hagan in Powder Mill Creek Cave, Shannon County, Missouri. By William R. Elliott, ca. 1998.

Cave crawlers Natural Areas Conference 2000 field trip to Mushroom Cave, Meramec State Park, Missouri. By David C. Ashley, 10/2000.

Cavesnail propagation lab The new cavesnail propagation lab in Tumbling Creek Cave. Dr. Paul Johnson adjusts the shelves, which will hold chambers for cavesnails. Dr. Paul McKenzie (right)

of the US Fish & Wildlife Service helped construct the lab. Ron Oesch (left) is a Missouri snail expert. By William R. Elliott, 3-30-2006.

Cavesnail refugium Drs. Stephanie Clark and David C. Ashley with terra cotta tiles placed in Tumbling Creek for the cavesnail, Antrobia culveri. By William R. Elliott, 3-30-2006.

Coffin Cave ascent  Dr. David C. Ashley, Missouri Western State University, climbs out of Coffin Cave, Laclede County, the largest hibernaculum for Gray bats in Missouri. By William R. Elliott, July 2000.

Coffin Cave descent Jim Kaufmann descends into Coffin Cave, Laclede County, Missouri, to help census hibernating Gray bats. By William R. Elliott, 1-24-06.

Crayfish measuring Orconectes neglectus, the Ringed Crayfish, Tumbling Creek Cave, Taney County, Missouri. By William R. Elliott, 2002.

Crayfish weighing Theresa Davidson weighs a surface crayfish, Orconectes neglectus, in Tumbling Creek Cave, Taney County, Missouri. By William R. Elliott, 2002.

Digital thermometer Jeff Briggler, Missouri state herpetologist, takes a digital temperature reading (8.2°C = 46.7°F) in Big Barn Hollow Cave, Texas Co., Missouri. By William R. Elliott, March 2001.

Guano check Rick Clawson (right) checks Gray bat guano in Bat Cave, Miller County, Missouri. By Steve Samoray, 9-30-2004.

Guano-mining ramp is examined by Dale Pate in 1985. Dale is now the cave specialist at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, where he continues to deal with bat guano. Texas has many

large caves inhabited by millions of Mexican free-tailed bats. Some caves were mined for guano during the Civil War (1861-1865), and the guano was used to make saltpeter (potassium nitrate),

an ingredient in black gunpowder. Later, many of the same caves were mined for fertilizer, which was sent by railroad to California and to the East Coast, where some was shipped to England.

This ramp probably dates to the 1940s or 1950s. A cart was pulled up the wooden ramp and sacks were filled from underneath the ramp. By William R. Elliott, Davis Blowout Cave, Blanco County, Texas, USA

Joe Ivy (deceased) working on a bioinventory at Headquarters Cave, Camp Bullis, Bexar County, Texas. By William R. Elliott, ca. 1996.

Measuring guano Missouri Department of Conservation biologists measure Gray bat guano in Smittle Cave, Wright County, Missouri. ©William R. Elliott, 2000.

Measuring guano Kate Leary and Norman Murray measure Gray bat guano in Moles Cave, Camden Co., Missouri. By William R. Elliott, 1999.

Proper caver photo  (and drawing)  A properly equipped caver, Dr. David C. Ashley, Missouri Western State University, in Russell Cave, Alabama, during the National Cave and Karst Management

Quadrats  Cave biologists use a random quadrat method to census Antrobia culveri cavesnails in Tumbling Creek Cave, Taney County, Missouri. L to R: David Ashley, Paul McKenzie, Andy Roberts.

Restoration #1 Cavers remove rotted, 1950s stairway from Great Spirit Cave, Pulaski County, Missouri, after it was checked by a cave biologist. By William R. Elliott, 10-9-2003.

Restoration #2 Steve Samoray cleans nonhistorical graffiti from Great Spirit Cave, Pulaski County, Missouri. By William R. Elliott, 10-9-2003

Restoration #3  Sara Gardner cleans nonhistorical graffiti from Great Spirit Cave, Pulaski County, Missouri. By William R. Elliott, 10-9-2003.

Sara Gardner measures Gray bat guano accumulated in a plastic plate tacked to a wooden stake. This method is used to check roosts for activity when the bats are absent, or even quantifying

Scope work Dr. David C. Ashley, Missouri Western State College, and a student check live samples of Fontigens aldrichi cavesnails in Mossy Spring Cave, Washington Co., Missouri.

Telescoping net Jim Godwin, The Nature Conservancy, using a telescoping dip net in Russell Cave, Alabama. By William R. Elliott, October, 1999.

Tom Poulson Dr. Tom Poulson lectures at Great Onyx Cave, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. By William R. Elliott, 2000.

Water sampling Dr. Bob Lerch, University of Missouri, takes water samples in Tumbling Creek Cave, Taney Co., Missouri. By William R. Elliott, 1998.