It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a squirrel? It’s turns out there are flying squirrels, but they don’t fly like birds and bats do. These squirrels would more correctly be called gliding squirrels because they glide through the air instead of flying.
The southern flying squirrel is one of four tree squirrel species that live in Illinois, along with eastern gray squirrels, fox squirrels and red squirrels. Southern flying squirrels live all across the state, but they are more common in the southern half of Illinois.
Southern flying squirrels have been seen at several Will County forest preserves, including Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve, Hickory Creek Preserve, Kankakee Sands Preserve, Keepataw Preserve and Thorn Creek Woods Preserve. In the preserves, they are typically seen in spots with mature forests.
Creatures of the night
Flying squirrels aren't as familiar to people as other squirrel species for one very good reason: They are nocturnal. Even in places where they are common, they are seldom seen because they are active only at night. Once they sun sets, they wake. That's when they go gliding — not flying — through the air.
Words to know
Adaptation: A change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment.
Forage: To search for food over a wide area.
Lurk: To remain hidden or wait to ambush.
Navigate: To travel over.
They are able to glide thanks to a flap of skin called a patagium. They have a patagium on each side of their body. It stretches from their wrists to their ankles. When they leap into the air, they spread out their arms and legs, extending the patagia (the plural for patagium) as they do. The patagia then catch the air like a kite as they soar.
Flying squirrels can glide several hundred feet at a time, and they can reach speeds of 20 mph to 30 mph. They can even sometimes glide in loops and travel in reverse!
Once in the air, they are able to steer themselves using their legs and tails. When they come in for a landing, they tilt their bellies toward the chosen tree and then all four feet hit the surface at once.
Gliding doesn't just make it easier to get from tree to tree, it also helps flying squirrels stay safe from predators on the ground. They do occasionally spend time on the ground foraging for food, but it makes them more vulnerable to predators like coyotes, bobcats, weasels and even pet cats.
More often, flying squirrels are preyed on from animals above, like owls and other raptors. When they land on a tree, they will often immediately move over to the other side in case an owl is lurking nearby.
Key identification features
They are the smallest of the tree squirrels that live in Illinois, about the size of a chipmunk. Their fur is mostly brownish-gray, but their bellies are white.
Some of flying squirrels' physical features are adaptations that allow them to thrive at night. To start, their eyes have large pupils, appearing almost entirely black. This maximizes how well they can see with only moonlight and starlight. They also have the longest whiskers of any squirrel species to help them navigate at night without bumping or crashing into trees and other objects.
Where they live
Southern flying squirrels have a range that extends far beyond the South. Their range includes most of the eastern United States as well as pockets of southern Canada, Mexico and Central America.
North America is also home to a second flying squirrel species. The northern flying squirrel is found predominantly in Canada and the far northern states in the U.S., including nearby Michigan and Wisconsin. They also live in the Appalachian mountains.
Not picky eaters
The diet of these squirrels will come as no surprise to anyone who is familiar with our more well-known gray squirrels and fox squirrels. Southern flying squirrels eat a lot of nuts and seeds, as well as fruit and fungi.
They are classified as omnivores because they also eat insects, birds, eggs and even carrion, or animal carcasses. In fact, they are considered to be one of the most carnivorous squirrel species because of how much animal matter they eat.
A helpful species
Like other squirrels, flying squirrels contribute to reforestation efforts because they bury their nuts to save them for times when food is scarce, but they don't always return for them. They also contribute to tree health by eating insects that burrow into wood and also eating buds, which helps the plants grow.
In the mature forests where they live, large trees or dead trees are the preferred spots for their nests. They usually build their cozy nests in hollow cavities. Their favorite nesting spots are abandoned woodpecker nests. As old-growth woodlands have become less common, flying squirrels have sometimes begun to nest in homes and other man-made structures.
Southern flying squirrels typically breed twice a year, once in late winter or early spring and again in late spring or summer. Babies are born about 40 days after mating. Spring litters typically have two or three babies, while summer litters will have four or five. The babies are able to care for themselves after about eight weeks, but they sometimes stay with their mothers until she has another litter of babies.
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