Page 8 - IAV Digital Magazine #537

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
By Ben Hooper
Dec. 23 (UPI) -
- A crew working to cut down a dying oak tree on the University of Nebraska's East Campus made an unexpected discovery in a hollow limb -- a family of flying squirrels.
Brian Dieterman, assistant manag- er for the univer- sity's landscape services, said his crew was baffled when a creature poked its head out from a hole in a hollow limb of the tree.
"We're used to seeing squirrels in trees, but this didn't look like a squirrel," Dieterman told the Lincoln Journal Star.
Dieterman said the workers fig- ured out what animals they were dealing with when they start- ed gliding to a nearby tree.
The university shared a video to Facebook show- ing the flying squirrels in flight.
Larkin Powell, a professor of con- servation biology at the school, said Nebraska's last-known popu- lation of flying squirrels is about 90 miles away in the area around Indian Cave State Park.
Powell said it's hard to say how long the gliding mammals have been on campus, as they are noc- turnal and notori- ously elusive.
"It's among the species that's harder to docu- ment because they're not out when people are around," he said.
"And they're little dudes."
Powell said there haven't been any reported sight- ings between the animals' natural habitat and Lincoln, and it would have been difficult for them to make the jour- ney on their own. He said they may have hitched a ride on a truck or with someone's camping sup- plies.
"As a biologist, I've seen crazy things that ani- mals can do. But it's very unlikely they made it here on their own," he said.
1887 Time Capsule Under Virginia's Robert E. Lee Statue Opened
By Ben Hooper
Dec. 22 (UPI) -
- An 1887 time capsule found at the base of a Virginia state
of Robert E.
Lee was opened Wednesday, revealing items including an almanac, a pair of books, a cloth envelope and a coin.
The time capsule, found Dec. 17 by workers disman- tling the pedestal under the Richmond statue of the Confederate gen- eral, was opened Wednesday by
Gov. Ralph Northam.
The lead contain- er, believed to have been placed in the pedestal on Oct. 27, 1887, was found to be holding items that included an 1875 almanac, two withered books, a cloth envelope and a coin.
Chelsea Blake, a conservator with Virginia's Department of Historic Resources, led the team
that spent several hours working to open the box Wednesday. The
team said the lead was heavily corroded and partly covered in mortar.
Officials said the contents of the time capsule were wet, and steps are now being taken to ensure they are properly preserved.
The 12-ton statue of Robert E.
Lee was removed in
September after Northam ordered the state's Confederate mon- uments to be dis- mantled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbgbRm65Q3c
Flying Squirrels Found Living On U of N Campus