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Glaucomys volans
A couple of these flying squirrels are coming to a feeder at night in the backyard. I'm not sure how to distinguish the 2 species, northern and southern flying squirrels.
Spotted on Dec 20, 2013
Submitted on Dec 22, 2013
22 Comments
Thanks Shanna. I agree with you:-)
Awww, so cute.
Thanks Rieko and Bhagya. They are fun to watch, running around the tree trunk and gliding from one tree to another.
cutie......
Nice.
Karen, thanks for the info and gatorfellows for the nice comment.
Nice photo of this nocturnal cutie :)
Fun fact! Flying squirrels do not actually fly, but are able to glide considerable distances by launching themselves from trees and spreading their limbs in an X shape, revealing a membrane called a patagium. This membrane extends from their wrists to their ankles and works in much the same way as the wings on a glider. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...
Thanks Marta and Reza.
Awwww-some !
Very nice encounter!
I may have to do that! I get back Tuesday from visiting my sister, will put some seed/peanut butter out that night and hopefully something will show up before I leave for Africa on Saturday :)
You might be surprised if you try for them in Houston. I used to live in a smaller city of 45,000 and they were in the old trees lining the street in front of houses at night.
Ok well I will try next summer when I'm back in the woods finishing up my Master's research. Although I do have a lot of trees in my neighborhood, I doubt I'm going to find one here in the middle of Houston :)
kdpicturemaker thanks for the info about the Sugar Gliders.
Ashley it usually just takes a day or two before they find the food. I've attracted them during the summer as well as the winter, like this time. This must be the Southern, it's chipmunk size.
Next summer I want to try and put peanut butter with seed in it on a tree, but will have to put lots of ant bait at the base of the tree so the ants don't eat it all before squirrels find it. Do you bait it several nights before they show up?
Only difference I see between the two is mainly size. Southern is about the size of a chipmunk, and Northern is almost the size of a regular squirrel. Also, Northern depend on fungi from conifer forests so they are rarely found outside of them.
The sugar gliders (a species of gliding marsupial possum) are quite active at night (nocturnal) as are most Australian possums, they rest in hollows during the day unless disturbed enough to move about in daylight hours. They feed on nectar, insects and grubs. A different animal to your lovely squirrel but so much alike in that photo and similar gliding habit!
Ashley the only way I ever see them is by putting a feeding station on a tree with bird seed in it just after dark so the birds don't eat all the seeds. This was in my back yard and I just leave the flood lights on so I see when they come.
I'm so jealous of this! I hear them all over the place but can never actually find one! Such a cutie :)
Thanks kdpicturemaker and loonszeto. These squirrels let me get fairly close about 8 meters away. They only come out at night so a flash is needed. Are the Sugar Gliders active during the day or are they nocturnal too?
Wow
Tom15 this is gorgeous! Very clean lines on this animal, you could almost 'feel' the fur. At a glance very similar look in this photo to Australia's little Sugar Gliders - although quite different of course.