Inside the massive caverns of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico, visitors are only allowed to drink water. Cheetos are banned, and a recent visitor to the park dropped a bag full of them, causing a “significant impact” to the cave’s ecosystem, the park said in a Facebook post on Friday.
“From a human perspective, a spilled snack bag may seem like a small thing, but to cave creatures it can be a world-changing event,” the park said in a post about trash found on the side of the road in the Big Room.
“The processed corn softened in the cave’s moisture, creating the perfect environment for microbes and fungi to live in. Cave crickets, mites, spiders and flies quickly formed a temporary food web, dispersing nutrients into surrounding caves and formations. Mold spreads to nearby high surfaces, grows, dies and stinks. And the cycle continues.”
The park said crews spent 20 minutes carefully removing the mold and other debris from the cave’s surfaces, noting that while some members of the ecosystem that emerged from the snack were native to caves, “many of the microbes and molds were not.”
The post states that this particular impact on the cave is “completely avoidable,” contrasting it with the difficult to prevent fine lint trails left behind by visitors.
“We make an impact wherever we go, no matter how big or small. Let’s leave this world better than we found it,” the post urged park visitors.
According to the park’s website, eating or drinking anything other than water attracts animals to the cave.
Carlsbad Caverns followed up their post about the Cheetos bags with another about the “Leave No Trace” principles of properly disposing of waste.
“Contrary to popular belief, the cave is not one big trash bin,” the post said, but rangers do pick up trash left there every day.
“Sometimes that means gum wrappers and tissues, but sometimes, unfortunately, that means human waste, spit and chewing tobacco.” Visitors are asked not to leave trash inside the caves and to use designated toilets.
The Big Room in Carlsbad Caverns National Park is the largest single cave chamber in North America and is accessible via a relatively flat 1.25-mile (2-km) trail. The cave was formed millions of years ago when sulfuric acid dissolved the limestone, creating a cave passage.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account on CNN.com.
