Page 60 - Present Day Wildlife_Float

Flying squirrels are long-limbed and slender rodents all belonging to the family Sciuridae.
There are 15 genera, with around 50 species. They are widely dispersed across the globe from the
Americas, Asia, Europe and Russia. The size of individual flying squirrels range from the giant,
around 30 to 60 cm in length and about 1 to 2.5 kg in weight, and the smallest, described by some
as the size of a large butterfly, the dwarf flying squirrels, found in Borneo and the Malay Penin-
sula, at just 7 to 9 cm long. Although there are very distinct differences of opinion as to when they
appeared and how flying squirrels developed,
there is a growing consensus among some
that they originated around 18 to 20 mil-
lion years ago.

‘Flying’ squirrels cannot fly
like a bird. They have a skin membrane
that stretches from wrist to ankle and
they use this membrane to ‘glide’ through
the air. They use their limbs and long 6 to
10 cm long tail to steer themselves from
one tree to another. The longest fight, be-
tween trees, on record is 90 metres. How-
ever, some believe, depending on the
height of the start tree, they can achieve
much longer flights.

When clambering around in
the trees flying squirrels are not that dis-
similar to the average tree squirrel. They have the same head shape with
large round eyes, and common to all squirrels, a large bushy or flat tail
and bodies covered with short dense woolly textured fur. Their limbs how-
ever, are much longer than the squirrels, and their hands are tiny in com-
parison. Their limbs, and the membrane attached to them are aerodynam-
ically more suited for gliding, making walking about on the ground awk-
ward so they prefer to stay in the trees; although, there are some species
like the, North American southern flying squirrel, which regularly forage
on the ground, but this is not the norm. Foraging on the ground, leaves
them vulnerable to fast moving predators like, coyotes, bobcats, and feral
cats; so for most, it’s a last resort and always kept to a minimum, usually
only to bury and stash nuts, for winter.

Anomaluridae, or Afri- The flying squirrels live in areas where trees are a major part of the
can flying squirrels, are landscape like light woodlands, coniferous and heavy deciduous forests.
a group of rodents found They will often construct their home or nest using leaves, shredded bark,
in central Africa. They and mosses, high in a tree where the branches protrude from the trunk.
are not related to the sci- They will also take over any abandoned birds or squirrels nests, or move
urid flying squirrels. The into a nest box nailed to a tree by humans. Flying squirrels living in the
underside of their tails cold northern hemisphere don’t hibernate, so it’s not unusual, in winter,
has scales, and the shape to find several squirrels sharing the same nest in an effort to keep warm.
of their head is different.
Even their evolutionary Flying Squirrels are nocturnal omnivores. Depending upon the spe-
path is different, and alt- cies, they will eat fruit, seeds, buds, flowers, insects, gastropods, spiders,
hough they are member bird's eggs, and young birds. They have excellent hearing and good eye-
of the family Sciuridae sight and find hunting at night or during the twilight hours helps keep
they are not included them safe from one of their main predators and one they cannot easily es-
with the standard bore- cape; large predatory birds, like the northern spotted owl. Other non-
al flying squirrels, being flying predators like tree snakes, raccoons, and martens, are easier to
deemed a totally sepa- avoid by simply gliding from one tree to the next. (See: Rodent)
rate species.
.