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Southern Flying Squirrel
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When
it comes to squirrels, one of the first
things that you may not think about is flying squirrels! Of
course, when we say flying squirrels, we do not mean that these furry
mammals actually fly, instead they glide using a thin and furred piece
of membrane that extends from their wrists all the way to their
ankles. It is almost like the squirrel has a cape on and with
these species of squirrels only weighing between three and five
ounces, the act of gliding is definitely not all that hard to do.
Most
flying squirrels are very similar to regular squirrels, minus the fact
that these can glide everywhere versus just jumping. They have
the same soft, velvet fur that comes in a variety of colors ranging
from grayish all the way to reddish brown. The underbelly of the
flying squirrel is usually dark gray at the base but is most of the
time tipped with a cream color or a white. Their tail is not
fluffy like the usual squirrel; instead it is broad and flattened
down. They have large, black eyes that take up a lot of their
head and their ears are usually small and rounded.
Now
that you know exactly what a flying squirrel looks like, you should
know that these little critters usually nest in tree cavities and use
lichen, dried grass, or very finely shredded bark to line their nest
with. This is great to know, especially if you are looking to
spot a flying squirrel!
The
flying squirrel’s diet mainly consists of berries, blossoms, buds,
cherries and definitely all types of nuts. They do not however,
eat walnuts as the nuts shell is too hard for their small teeth to
gnaw on. These nut and berry loving critters will never turn
down some meat though; insects, stolen bird eggs and even small
nestling birds have all become a meal to the flying squirrel and while
we are not used to seeing a squirrel eat anything but vegetarian
things, the flying squirrel is a little bit unique that way.
This
amazing creature is also a very social critter. They usually
like to live together, usually with more males than females, but that
is not to say that females are not in the nest too. If the
female does happen to have a young one, they have to go live in a
separate nest with the young; the flying squirrel mothers are
extremely overprotective and nurturing. Male squirrels are not
allowed near the maternal nest and they do not take part in raising
the young squirrels at all. Usually, mating will begin in
February and end in late March, so if you are looking to catch them
mating, you will want to travel in these months.
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