The only other animal to have made the cave its home is the great horned owl. His nests have been found in considerable numbers near the entrances where he has been living for countless years in comparative safety. But, like the bats, he ventures outside in search of food, and spends his nights away from the cave, so at best he, like the ringtail, is only a part-time resident.
So the cricket depends on the bats, the mice on the cricket, and the ringtail on the mice. Thus is the life cycle within the great cave.
But when did man first visit the Caverns? That question is indeed problematic and may never be definitely answered. The early Folsom people have been traced to an encampment site some fifteen miles south of Clovis, New Mexico, which they occupied some time between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago. Chipped stone dart points associated with a post-glacial species of bison have been found imbedded in the earth in rock strata going back that many years.
These wandering hunters were known as "Bison Nomads" and it is not at all improbable that they knew of the cave and frequented it. They could have been the first humans to have entered it.
Then, approximately 2,000 years ago, or at about the beginning of the Christian era, the Basket Maker Indians began to roam this southwest area of the continent. They may have been the physical descendants of the early hunters, but from a standpoint of culture they are credited with having brought agriculture from some focal point in Mexico much further south.
The Basket Maker Indians lived in this area for some eight centuries, and archæologists mark three distinct periods of their civilization. The Basket Maker I people did much hunting and probably roamed the hills and valleys while the maize was growing, moving on to new areas after each harvest. The Basket Maker II group built simple dwellings, lived in caves, and grew numerous vegetables, including squash and beans. The Basket Maker III group established permanent villages, fired pottery, and elaborated on weavings established by both of the earlier groups.
The Basket Maker Indians are definitely known to have visited the cave, for their pictographs have been found on the entrance walls. What is more, skeletons have been found in the cave, some buried in baskets! These were found on shelves in the walls. Other skeletons were found buried beneath piles of guano far back in the cave, together with bits of pottery and broken arrow points.
As to how much the Indians used the cave remains speculative. Some archæologists believe the cave was used mostly as a tomb, while others think the Indians may have lived in the cave for a certain length, basing this observation on the bits of pottery and other remains found along ledges within the walls. These, they point out, definitely were not buried with a body.
Most likely the cave was used for both purposes, for it served the Indian well as a place of refuge and defense, and it appears that the living quarters were located within a close radius of the entrance. Any more extensive use of the rest of the cave would have left more evidence, archæologists say.
But that was well over a thousand years ago. How about recent times?