Woodville Ice Cave (Hants County, Nova Scotia) and Notes on the 'Ice Caves' of the Maritime Provinces

Abstract

Several caves and sinkholes where snow and ice persist well into the summer exist in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In the past they were sometimes used as a source of ice or for cold storage, and are known locally as ‘ice caves’ or ‘ice holes’. Although they are not true ice caves in the speleological sense of the term because they do not contain perennial ice, they are very similar. Woodville Ice Cave in Hants County, Nova Scotia, described here, is a particularly good example. Invertebrates and bats recorded from such sites are briefly discussed and the possibility of finding psychrophilic fauna in them is suggested.