Bats Need Friends Too

image of a bat with black wings dressed in clothes with white and red text on white background.

Carlsbad Caverns is a National Park located in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico known for its limestone caves and bat populations. The main attraction of the park is Carlsbad Cavern, a show cave with a natural entrance that visitors can hike.

The part of New Mexico where the Caverns are located has a long history. Carlsbad Cavern is just one of the over 300 limestones caves created 250 to 280 million years ago. Twelve to fourteen thousand years ago, American Indians were living in the Guadalupe Mountains. From the 1500s to the 1800s, the land went from Spanish to Mexican rule. In the 1840’s the land was lost to the United States, and became the state of New Mexico in 1912. While the first known entrance of the cave is disputed, 16 year old Jim White probably entered the cave for the first time in 1896. White would go on to be as well known cave explorer and promoter for the caverns. In 1923, the Carlsbad Cave was established as a National Monument.

Carlsbat was a mascot for the Carlsbad Caverns, commonly found alongside the slogan, “Bats Need Friends Too.” Carlsbat was featured on advertising merchandise such as pinback buttons, coffee mugs, tshirts, and pendants.