That was the spectacle which led Jim White, back at the turn of the century, to become interested in the colossal phenomenon designated by Act of Congress as Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It seemed to stay in one spot near the groundβbut the top kept spinning upward. Jim White, native of Mason County, Texas, grew up ranching So it was an experienced ten-year-old range-rider who teamed up with John and Dan Lucas of the X-X-X Ranch in New Mexico, three miles or so from the entrance to the cave.
Then came the day of the bat-flight. Crawling through the rocks and brush, Jim White approached the spot from which the bats seemed literally to boil. The incredulous young range-rider made a feeble guess about the number of batsβcould think no further than millionsβbut realized that any hole with capacity for that many bats must be a whale of a big affair. Creeping still closer, Jim finally lay on the brink of the chasm and looked down Torn between awe and curiosity, Jim did the natural thing for a man familiar with desert ranges.
When it was burning good, I took a flaming stalk and pushed it off into the hole. Down, down, down it went until the flame went outβand I still watched until the embers sprinkled on the rocks below. I kicked the remainder of the fire into the hole and watched 2 it fall.
The bats seemed to be scared, and for several minutes none flew out. Soon as the embers died, though, they boiled up again.
I watched another hour or so, then went back to camp. The fence-building crew, camped in the vicinity at the time, heard not a word from their companion about his observation. Jim White kept his counsel, waited a couple of days for the opportunity, then gathered together several coils of rope, a kerosene lantern, some wire and a hand-axe. You know the opening faces West, and the sun was in the right place to shine down into it.
