Studies
In 1967 there were two physical surveys trips into cave, but neither found evidence of the Jones Brothers story, or for a story that in 1949 an army saber from the American Civil War was found within the cave. All it found was that the cave had no entrance other than the reliable spring entrance on Beargrass Creek.
"Bad air" is present in the cave, with very high levels of carbon dioxide just inside the entrance. Dangerous hypoxia is possible within minutes, and fatal poisoning is likely farther into the cave. Concentrations of CO2 inside the cave are in excess of 10 times the normal atmospheric value.
It is the only known location for living Louisville cave beetles, Pseudanophthalmus troglodytes. This insect is reddish-brown, small, eyeless, and eats invertebrates. The Louisville cave beetle was described in 1973 from specimens collected from Oxmoor Cave (near Oxmoor Center). During 1994, surveys of other caves that could potentially support the species were conducted and the species was found in only one additional cave: Eleven Jones Cave. Oxmoor Cave was bulldozed over in 1990. It has been listed as "imperiled" by the Kentucky Natural Heritage Program. Since 1994 it has been a candidate for ESA protection, but currently has no state or federal protections.
Read more about this topic: Eleven Jones Cave
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