Charles Stephen, Matthew Niemiller and Kirk Zigler visited TME3 in Meigs Co., Tennessee. We had intended on visiting another cave or two during the day but we could not locate landowners, as it was a Sunday and a very nice day. After several hours without luck, we finally headed underground in the early afternoon. The entrance to TME3 is located in a sinkhole in the side of a hill. The cave is only 250 ft long but houses a bachelor colony of endangered Gray Bats (Myotis grisescens). During our visit, it quickly became apparent that the colony had left for the season, as only seven Gray Bats were observed. However, significant guano piles were observed in a lower level passage past a 30-ft dome that led to a stream. Here the air was humid and thick with the smell of ammonia and guano making breathing a bit difficult. There was abundant cave life in the lower level passage, including cave millipedes, springtails, and at least three species of flies. Cave isopods and cave amphipods were found in the cave stream, while a Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) was found along the stream underneath a rock. In the upper level, evidence of human visitation was rampant, as significant amounts of trash and batteries were scattered about and graffiti was spray-painted on the walls. Despite this human disturbance, some cave life was noted, including troglophilic millipedes, spiders and flies. Three White-Footed Mice (Peromyscus leucopus) were also seen in this section of the cave. After a two-hour visit, we were met at the entrance by a heavy thunderstorm that accompanied us back to our vehicles.
