A Non-Commensal Maternity Roost of the Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus)

Here the authors report on a maternity colony of M. lucifugus located in a hollow tree near Payuk Lake, Manitoba (54 degree 39'N/101 degree 30'W). The bats inhabited a hollow 2 m above the ground in a live aspen (Populus tremuloides ). The roost entrance was a gap between the bark and inner wood extending vertically for 20-30 cm and the bats roosted above the entrance, under the bark. The presence of this natural maternity roost points out that M. lucifugus could have existed at such northern latitudes before man-made roosts were available. Its persistence is interesting because there apparently are significant thermal benefits to be derived from large maternity roosts in building (Barclay, 1982; Kunz, 1982) and such sites potentially exist in the study area.