WINDOW CAVE

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

An unspecified cave entrance with a window like nature (Smart, C M in: DURRANT et al. 1979: 23.8) with an unidentified shape and unidentified dimensions combined with an unidentified orientation and unidentified characteristics, is said to give access to a cave with only a very small dark zone; the whole cave can be regarded as falling within the limits of the threshold zone (Smart, C M in: DURRANT et al. 1979: 27). ETYMOLOGY: No autochthonous, indigenous or locally known name has been identified for what foreigners from abroad simply christened Window Cave … due to the window like nature of the entrance (Smart, C M in: DURRANT et al. 1979: 23.8). SITUATION: North of Pokhara town and in the vicinity of the village of Battulechour (note 1) but above the locally eastern (orographically left) bank the Kali Khola, and in an unidentified spatial relation close to the hamlet of Bhalamkhor or, in short, Bhalam (note 2). Here, the cave entrance lies on the one-hand side, on an unspecified theupper terrace to the east of the Kali Khola, close to the small settlement of Kaarr [sic! qua: Bhalamkhor, in short: Bhalam] and, on the other, in an outcrop on the edge on a poorly developed surface valley (Smart, C M in: DURRANT et al. 1979: 23.8). A sketch map showing the cave distribution north of Pokhara town indicates the location of Window Cave close to and southwest from the Kaarr Jungle Cave (DURRANT et al. 1979 unpaginted page opposite page 27). CAVE DESCRIPTION: A cave entrance characterised by a kind of window like nature … leads after about 4 m into a collapse break down of conglomerate boulders. The overall passage dimensions vary in height up to 2 m and width also to 2 m. The way on was through a squeeze which leads in an unidentified direction, which once had been for a very short time on a somebody's to the right (sic!) and, for that matter, dropping down a metre and following and unspecified the wall into a relatively small chamber with unidentified dimensions and ithout comparison for scale: Here are a few [secondary calcite] formations and some flowstone although all these [speleothems] are all dry [during September / October 1976] and there is no evidence of fluvial activity (Smart, C M in: DURRANT et al. 1979: 23.8).CAVE LIFE: 1976 September / October: Collembola: Troglopedetes churchillatus. Moths present. Beetles: Leiotid. Ants: Pheidole sp. B. Mites: Machrocheles glaber gr. Spiders: Sparassids [giant crab spider], Linyphiids. Worms: Dichogaster sp. Bats [Chiroptera] present. Plants: Phycomycetes (DURRANT et al. 1979: 25 table: Species list for some Himalayan caves). The bats that roosted in the cave each day deposited guano and insect remains (especially grasshopper wings and legs) so that an interesting comparison between the guanophiles of Window Cave and those inhabiting caves with a more extensive dark zone, could be made. The guano deposits in the shallow Window Cave supported very few very few species compared to the guanophilic fana of Mahendra Gupha (6 species of Collembola compared to Window Cave's one) and Oderibuwahn Gupha (6 species of mites compared to Window Cave's one) … Window Cave is probably too small to maintain the micro-climatic variables (high humidity included) at constant and favourable levels … Opportunistic animals such as Odontotermes termites are able to thrive here, however (Smart, C M in: DURRANT et al. 1979: 27).Most of the animals collected from the caves of Nepal [Kaarr Jungle Cave, Mahendra Gupha, Oderibuwan Gupha, Window Cave] and Mussoorie [no name mentioned: Doon View Cave] … seem to be troglophiles; many are attracted to underground life because of the high humidity and the abundant sources of suitable food in the form of guano (WILSON 1977b: 67).NOTE 3: Each and every of all the caves of Nepal (WILSON 1977b: 67) are close to the village of Batulechour in the north of Pokhara town (Kaski district, Lumbini zone, Western Region) and comprise not only Mahendra Gufa, the popular how cave, and Oderibuwan Gupha (i.e. Chamere Gufa, Batulechour) but also the so-called Kaarr Jungle Cave (Chamere Gufa, Bhalamkhor) and a certain Window Cave (perhaps: Putli Cave, Putali Gufa).how cave, and Oderibuwan Gupha (i.e. Chamere Gufa, Batulechour) but also the so-called Kaarr Jungle Cave (Chamere Gufa, Bhalamkhor) and a certain Window Cave (perhaps: Putli Cave, Putali Gufa).