The Northern and Southern Flying Squirrel species in the United States don’t hibernate, but they do snuggle. Flying squirrels don’t hibernate through the winter, but they do slow down their metabolism to conserve resources. southern flying squirrel small large-eyed nocturnal flying squirrel of eastern United States northern flying squirrel large flying squirrel chiefly of Canada. They eat a range of foods not just nuts. Flying squirrels are omnivores and eat a range of food including fungi, nuts, berries, seeds, as well as carrion, eggs, slugs, and small birds. Their enormous eyes help them see in the dark. Being active at night helps them hide from those predators. But their folded patagia prevent them from being as nimble on their feet as non-flying squirrels, which makes them more vulnerable to predators including birds of prey, dogs, and cats. They fly, and stay up at night, to avoid predators. Flying squirrels use their aerial abilities to evade predators, including arboreal snakes. They alight exactly like Batman: They reach toward their landing spot with strong, padded feet that land silently, before their front limbs come down to steady the landing.

Their limbs, and their flat rudder-like tail, help them steer and control their leaps. Flying squirrels can also turn nearly 180 degrees in mid-air. “Flights” (which are really glides), of nearly 300 feet (91 meters), have been recorded. They can leap many times their own body length, and can have precision control of their landings. Much like Buzz Lightyear, flying squirrels don’t actually fly they “glide” or fall with style. Flying squirrels have membranes of fur between their arms and legs, called “patagia.” The patagia act as parachutes to slow them in leaps between trees. Here are some of the coolest things about flying squirrels. president and that Soft Cell’s Tainted Love was top of the charts in the UK).Īlthough little is known about the species, like all of its other tree-borne brethren, the Namdapha Flying Squirrel undoubtedly possesses stunning abilities and fascinating habits. One of our top 25 most wanted lost species, it hasn’t been seen for 37 years, since 1981 (the year Ronald Reagan was sworn in as U.S. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.In India there is a kind of flying squirrel known only from a lone squirrel collected in the Namdapha National Park in the Eastern Himalayas. Contrary to the typical view of maneuvering during gliding as a simple, static form of locomotion, the results presented here indicate that mammalian gliding is a complex behavior comprising the interplay of many components of limb position and wing shape that affect the balance of forces that control the turn. As compared with straight glides, squirrels used significantly higher angles of attack and had lower lift-to-drag ratios, but did not differ in glide angle. Both individuals employed limb movements continuously through the gliding turn, but these movements did not have any consistent relationships with body rotations or lateral acceleration. DESCRIPTION: The southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) is the smallest of all tree squirrels with a normal body weight of two to four ounces and body. The individual with better performance used limb positions consistent with a primarily lift-based turning mechanism (banked turn), whereas the individual with poorer performance used limb positions consistent with a primarily drag-based turning mechanism (crabbed turn). The two individuals used in this study differed significantly in limb position asymmetries between the two sides of their bodies and also were significantly different in measures of turning performance. These results were compared with similar measurements of flying squirrels during straight glides. In addition, we used these kinematic data to estimate the aerodynamic forces generated by the animals and rotational velocities and accelerations of the body while turning. In this study we present the first 3D description of body positions during gliding turns in a mammalian gliding specialist, the southern flying squirrel, Glaucomys volans. The ability to change direction is essential to any animal that moves around in a complex, 3D environment.

Southern flying squirrel