I noticed our cat sitting in the dark, looking up at a tree, her normal diurnal docking point. I wondered if a mouse was there, or some other nocturnal creature.
I looked up mouse, mice, rodent, white, brown, hopping - finally found it. It is Glaucomys sabrinus. And I still need to find out if it is a Northern or Southern variety. It is the size of a chipmunk, so it seems to be the latter. The former are the size of red squirrels.
There is a great website on Flying Squirrels, with information about these nocturnal critters, a great photo, and a better video...The Wikipedia photo isn't bad, either, but the photo (left) is mine.
They don't actually fly, but glide. Their little flat, thick tails must be a rudder of some sort. Ours simply hopped on and off the tree, onto the railing or the bird feeder directly, with cats hovering underneath. It went around the back of the tree where I managed to get a photo.
6 comments:
J. Jilks,
You are right, he is adorable. I can see why you couldn't resist. Thanks for sharing!
I've just hopped from a flying fox post to a flying squirrel post! What fun!
An animal that flicks around like this flying squirrel is very hard on a cat's instincts, Jenn. Cute video and good post.
Those little guys are so cute.
It's true, Barbara. Fortunately, Sady doesn't see too well. She keeps attacking her younger brother, Oliver, through the glass doors thinking her is a strange cat.
And yes, Lauren, Chris, they really are funny, cute little critters. I poked my head out, keeping cats in last night now that I know they are there, and saw the little thing peering around the side of the tree at me. Then it thought I was OK and it popped down on the railing again, and up and down and up...
Hi Jenn, trying to catch up on some of my favorite blogs. Love the squirrel! Ours aren't so talented and are consigned to running and climbing.
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