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The gun batteries at Sandy Hook are like artificial caves and have many similar features like stalactites, stalagmites, stable temperatures and cave inhabitants. Battery Potter is one of the largest and is open for tours. (Below) |
 It's a perfect place for a class picture. |
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The Mortar Pit (Right) is good birdwatching spot and has some of Sandy Hook's most interesting plants. (Below) In the spring and fall bats sometimes rest in the dark batteries during the day. Ladybugs will swarm inside the warmer parts of the structures. |
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The camel cricket (Right) is regularly found deep inside the gun batteries. Spiders are not as common as you would expect because there is little food for them except near the entrances and windows. Don't worry, rats and mice never seem to take up residence here, probably due to a lack of food sources too. |
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 Bat temperature degrees 52.5 F. |
Most of the gun batteries are off-limits and closed to the
public, but visitors can explore some of them on guided tours
with the rangers. Perhaps you will be lucky and see a bat like
those on the left. (Below) The centipede is the largest arthropod we've seen here and the most difficult to photograph. |
 Air and surface temperature 52.5 degrees F. |
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| (Above) Raccoons often explore or rest around the gun batteries, but seem to prefer trees, sewer drains and the Brookdale dumpster. Barn swallows (Upper right) sometimes nest in the most open of the gun batteries and those closest to the water. The Fowlers toad was recently reintroduced to Sandy Hook and is sometimes found in the cool, moist batteries during the summer. |
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The northern brown snake is not common in the gun batteries but sometimes enters them in the fall before hibernation. All of these creatures are harmless to visitors and only enhance our visits to these historic sites. |