Why do we gate some caves? We do this as a last resort to keep out humans who may intentionally or unintentionally harm wildlife or other cave resources. Often we gate a cave to protect sensitive endangered species from disturbance, such as Gray Bats and Indiana Bats. Sometimes we had to protect Ozark Cavefish, archaeological sites, paleontological sites, or other cave resources from the pressure of too much traffic. We have even gated a cave or two because of rampant vandalism, even when no endangered species were present. This allowed us to restore the cave somewhat, and restore public respect to that cave. If we leave a cave trashed out, it sends a message that we condone vandalism, or that we just don't care. But we do care.

Nevertheless, it is not our goal, or any good cave manager's goal, to gate all the caves. There are too many of them (more than 6,000 in Missouri) to gate, and we don't particularly like the way cave gates look. Sometimes we can recess a gate into the cave so that it does not ruin the appearance of the entrance, but that is secondary to the need to protect certain resources. For example, archaeological sites often are concentrated at cave entrances, so a recessed cave gate would not help much in that case. And bats should not be forced to fly through very small gates. So, there are trade-offs, unfortunately, but if we can protect 99% of the cave for a loss in aesthetics of 1% of the cave (the entrance), that often is a good trade-off. This must be coupled with a good management policy that grants appropriate access to that particular cave for scientific study, monitoring, mapping and other necessary work.

Someday we may be able to remove some of these cave gates. Actually, sometimes we rebuild or remove them now. We have gotten rid of a couple of gates that were not working well.

Rationale for Cave Gating

Poor cave gates actually can harm wildlife and cave resources. There are many reasons for not gating a cave, and cave gating is not automatically recommended by the Missouri Department of Conservation. In Missouri private cave owners are generally protected by law from legal liability for injuries to cave visitors, unless it is a commercial show cave. Cave gating is a technical subject that requires knowledge and experience; for example, it cannot be done properly by a general welding contractor without providing specifications, a design and on-site supervision by an experienced cave gater. Knowledge of the cave’s ecology, especially bats, is necessary before a gate is considered. MDC assists cave owners in cave gating, but first a decision guide must be followed. See Elliott's Handouts for Cave Managers to download 2006 cavegates.pdf (Cave Gating Criteria), with decision guide.

Cave Gate Types 

Depending on the needs of the cave, the type of entrance, bats and other wildlife, the design could specify a full gate, half gate, chute gate, cupola gate, vertical bar fence or no gate at all (see images). Caves that have lost their bats may be recolonized with proper gates. Except for vertical bar fences, all gates must have horizontal bars to admit bats, as they cannot fly between vertical bars. Full gates are not recommended for maternity colonies of Gray bats. Some bat caves that may need a gate for protection are not feasible to gate for certain physical reasons. Many caves that are feasible to gate do not need to be gated because other modes of protection may work better.