No injured cavers recorded.
At about 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 2, three cavers entered 23 Dollar Cave in Alabama. About an hour later they were at the bottom of the seventh drop, signed the register and started out. At the fourth pit Lona Brown went ahead while the other two derigged. The water was up and it was apparently storming outside. As the two neared the 80 foot entrance drop they heard what they thought was mud and rocks falling. Mark Lassiter then encountered a copperhead when he went to rig into the rope. The rope was moved to one side but as he went again to rig in, another snake fell from above and he backed off. By rigging the rope to the bolt at the second drop and climbing at a 75° angle, they were able to climb past the snakes. No snakes were encountered at the lip as feared and the two exited the cave without further incident.
This incident may seem trivial but it points out that poisonous snakes, spiders, scorpions, bears, mountain lions, and other dangerous critters do inhabit entrance areas of caves.