Flying squirrels

[JFK52]

I have flying squirrels on my 2 acre house lot. I first saw them about 25+ years ago one evening jumping from one oak tree to another oak tree. Since then I have seen them come to my bird feeders many times at night since they are nocturnal rodents. I see them mostly in the winter when they have no natural food sources available. They are very cartoonish looking creatures. They have huge oversize eyes. Their ability to fly, or rather jump between tree tops, comes from the loose folds of skin they have between their bodies and their legs. When they jump off a tree, and stretch out their skin so it acts like a wing suit. Truly a marvel of nature. They tend to make their nests in the hollow cavities of oak or other trees.

Last week I saw them for the first time this year. There appeared to be about four of them and it was around 10 PM. I have spotlights that are on nightly to deter unwanted visitors. That, a Rottweiler and a locked gate have done a good job so far. My spots illuminate the bird feeding areas. These critters are about the size of a chipmunk, maybe slightly smaller. They move at hyper speed when they go up and down the tree trunk to a cob of corn I have on a duplex nail for squirrel feeding. I got out my 10x42 Leupold Wind River binoculars and enjoyed the show for about 20 minutes. In Wisconsin, they are a protected animal. No reason to shoot them as they are too small to eat and do no real damage to my bird feeders.

A side benefit of my bird feeding. I get to enjoy seeing all the different species of birds and squirrels feed during the day and then see the night time crowd of rabbits, coons, possums and flying squirrels.

 

[Frosted brassica]

That’s cool that you get a good look at them in the lights. I saw one years ago while in a tree stand at dark and have always wanted to see them again. I hunt in that same area sometimes, but either their numbers are down or likely I don’t know where to look. Mother Nature is always amazing.

 

[The Fishman]

They really are cool. We have a family of flying squirrels that has used our shooting house as their home for the past 3-4 years. They are pretty much in there except during deer season. You can open the door and they just stare at you. They do make a mess, but we leave them alone and enjoy seeing them. Funny how some rats are cute and you enjoy their presence, while others you want to kill them on sight.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

JFK52 - If you haven't already, try smearing chunky peanut butter in the crevices of the tree bark. The flying squirrels will roll up little balls of the PB and run to a spot where the other squirrels won't try to steal it from them. Or they just take a ball to a limb and eat it there. Comical critters.

 

[mtholton]

We have the same thing at our cabin in Ely, MN. Like clockwork about 20 minutes after sunset, they appear on the top log of our a frame cabin and two of them make their flight down into the trees. Always entertaining to see!

 

[H20fwler]

Very cool little squirrels!
I think they are more common than most think, they just are never seen. A buddy of mine gets them on his trail cameras at night a few times a year.

 

[chucker66]

We have some here too and they are fun to watch on my game camera, just keep them out of the attic.

 

[ruskbucks]

They are cool. I get them all the time on our trail cameras. One night we went into my woods at night to recover a doe my wife shot. It was freaking us out because there was stuff moving all around us. We were shinning our flashlights all over the place, couldn't see anything. We finally saw them, it was a bunch of flying squirrels gliding from tree to tree.