“Flying” squirrels more noticeable this fall

Now that its getting dark by 7:00 p.m., nocturnal animals are coming out earlier as well. The next time you are outside, listen for high-pitched chirps in the woods. If you hear them, those noises aren’t from the bats. Many of our bat species have either migrated or are hibernating now that their insect food source has disappeared. Those sounds are from another airborne mammal, the northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus). Despite its name, flying squirrels don’t really fly. These gray-brown rodents “glide” by stretching out the loose skin on their legs to create skin “wings” that let them glide from tree to tree in the forest.

These squirrels sleep during the day and come out only after the noisy red squirrels have gone to sleep. Rather than running across the branches of trees, flying squirrels glide from tree to tree to get through the forest. On average, flying squirrels drop one yard in elevation for every three yards of forward movement, taking them from a treetop to a tree trunk near the ground. Most glides are 20 yards, but these squirrels can glide up to 50 yards in some cases. After landing, the squirrels climb up the tree and glide off again.

These squirrels prefer mature evergreen stands and mixed forests (i.e. the northland woods). By now flying squirrels have moved to their winter quarters in old woodpecker holes or natural tree cavities. They line their nests with grass, bark, feathers and leaves to help them stay warm all winter. Unlike chipmunks who hibernate all winter, flying squirrels stay active all winter. But don’t going looking fore tracks in the snow. Most flying squirrels never touch the ground. Unlike the territorial red squirrels, the cold seems to make flying squirrels much more social in the winter. On sub-zero days, as many as nine squirrels might huddle for warmth in a nest.

This time of year, flying squirrels are feeding on mushrooms, conifer seeds and lichens. That food helps squirrels stock their metabolic fires and stay warm all winter.

While it might be hard to imagine, flying squirrels are just as numerous as the noisy red squirrels in the northland, in good habitat they number up to 2,600 per square mile. The reason we don’t come across them as much is because we aren’t as active when they are.

If you want to create a good chance of seeing a flying squirrel in your backyard, assuming that you have woods nearby, set up a feeder with peanuts or seeds and put a motion detector spotlight on it. After a few days (or a few weeks) a flying squirrel will probably find that easy food source and fly in to eat. When it does, the light will go on and you will get to watch one of the northland’s most elusive squirrels.