The Devil’s Icebox – The Missouri Cave Closed to Save the Bats
Missouri is a state full of caves many of which you can explore. There is one however that had to be closed from humans in an effort to try and save the bats inside.
Have you ever adventured in the cave known as The Devil's Icebox? It's located in Boone County just a few miles north of Columbia, Missouri. Prior to the cave being closed, here's a look inside thanks to a video share by a spelunker on YouTube.
So why can't you go into The Devil's Icebox now?
The Missouri State Parks website explains the reason:
The wild cave tours have been suspended until further notice to protect the bats within Devil’s Icebox Cave from white nose syndrome, caused by a fungus that affects bats but not humans.
What in the world is white-nose syndrome?
The white-nose syndrome website explains that it "causes changes in bats that make them become active more than usual and burn up fat they need to survive the winter. Bats with white-nose syndrome may do strange things like fly outside in the daytime in the winter." That's obviously not gonna end well for the bats.
The good news is that there's no evidence white-nose syndrome affects people or their pets. The bad news is it means an interesting cave in the middle of Missouri is out of commission until the syndrome can be stopped and the bats can be saved.