Home Conservation Safety Meetings Caves Members Trip Reports Restaurants Links email the webmaster	People visit caves for many reasons but for animals, such as this salamander, caves provide food and shelter. Cave dwelling species of bats are important for pest management and pollination of plants. Caves are also a path into the water table, so cave pollution can poison an vital resource for our own community. It is up to us to protect caves when we visit them. With this in mind the Columbia Grotto offers these guidelines for personal conduct in caves. Leave the cave as you found it. We applaud cleaning up trash, of course, but leave formations, rocks, animals, archeological remains, and historic features intact. Carry all your trash out, including that which is biodegradable. If you need to urinate or defecate, wait until you're outside the cave, or use a bottle and carry it out. Those of us who go on long cave trips really do this, however unpleasant it may sound. Human wastes are bad for cave organisms, unhealthy for ground water (which may be your drinking water), and also tend to break down slowly. Bad smells will linger for a very long time. Avoid disturbing cave animals. Bats are particularly vulnerable to human interference when they are hibernating, and when they are bringing up their young. The best thing to do is stay out of bat caves when they are in use. To learn more about these important and beneficial mammals, visit Bat Conservation International. Stick to one trail to minimize damage to the floor and walls of the cave. Walking and climbing can destroy delicate formations and transfer mud from caver to clean rock and flowstone. Avoid touching formations, particularly with muddy gloves, clothing, and boots. Formations include flowstone floors and walls. If you must climb on flowstone, use clean gloves, clean clothing, and clean, non-marking shoes to prevent transferring dirt or skin oils to the rock. Look where you're going. This is the best way to avoid breaking formations and leaving dirty footprints. It sounds simple, but the cave environment is full of surprises. Cave safely. Taking care of yourself prevents accidents and accidental damage. Please read our safety guidelines.   Salamander in a Mother Lode cave. Photo by Dave Bunnell Pages and their contents © Copyright 2000, 2001 by Elizabeth Bunnell, except where otherwise noted.