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.
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.