Southern Flying Squirrel
American Flying Squirrel
Family: Sciuridae

"Tinkerbell"
Photo Courtesy: Kym Johnson

   These intriguing little squirrels have a large fold of furred skin stretching from their forefeet to their hind feet which they spread out like a parachute and glide from tree branch to tree branch, thus their name "flying squirrel"!

   The Southern Flying Squirrel or American Flying Squirrel is the squirrel most commonly found available in the U.S. pet trade. They are the littlest of the squirrel species with only a 3-4 inch long body. Their tiny size, along with a natural tendency to want to rustle around or even snuggle up and sleep in your pocket, makes the Flying Squirrel a perfect "pocket pet".

   At first, Flying Squirrels are very shy when meeting new people. A young squirrel that has been raised in captivity or taken from its mother at weaning time will accept handling the easiest.

Dr. Jungle chuckles...."wow Tinkerbell sure livens up her new family's life!
"This was her first Christmas. My husband and I love her just like a daughter. She is so cute! Tinkerbell loves to play on our curtains in the living room, coming down to play with us or see if we have something to eat!"	Tinkerbell is a female Southern Flying Squirrel. "One of her favorite foods is sugar snap peas. Of course she also loves cashews, pecans and whole un-shelled peanuts. Tinkerbell has a ferret sized wheel in her cage which she runs in at night while we are asleep. Recently she likes to play this game in the living room where she climbs up high on the curtains and "flys" to me. We do this over and over again. She never gets tired!! When she gets bored she will climb inside my shirt and nip at me until I play with her. We just love her so much! My life would be so boring without her. I can't believe how lucky we are to have her."...Kym Johnson
Photos Courtesy: Kym Johnson

   Flying Squirrels are nocturnal so after sleeping all day, these little fellows will be very playful and full of energy from dusk to dawn. To keep their muscles strong they not only need places to play, but need a regular opportunity to glide. Putting your pet up on a high shelf and letting it glide back to you will be rewarding for both of you!

For more information about the care of Flying Squirrels see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Squirrel

Background:
   Southern Flying Squirrels are found mostly in the Eastern part of North America, inhabiting parts of Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Description:
   Southern Flying Squirrels or American Flying Squirrels are just 7-8 inches long (with 4" of that being the tail), and they weigh just 3 ounces when fully grown.
   Flying Squirrels have a furred membrane of skin that stretches from their forefeet to their hind feet which allows them to glide from tree branch to tree branch, thus their name "flying squirrel",
   Their fur is silky and has soft dense undercoat. Their overall appearance of their fur is mostly rusty-brown or grayish-red, with a lightly colored underbelly. But upon close inspection the hair is a actually a mixture of several colors including gray, red, and beige, and there is a soft gray undercoat.
   They rest in the hollows of trees during the daytime, and will search the treetops for food after dark. Their natural foods consist of insects, birds' eggs, nuts and various kinds of fruits.
   They not only have 20 regular teeth, but like all rodents, they have sharp incisors that continually grow, and will need hard chews to keep them worn down.
   The female will produce a litter of three to six young twice a year.

Interesting Facts:
   - The furred membrane of skin they can stretch out parachute like,enables
      them to glide for long distances through tall trees - sometimes up to160
      feet! They often make sharp turns just before landing.
   - Flying Squirrels are nocturnal, meaning that they sleep during the day and
      are active at night. This means they have to watch out for night predators,
      such as owls.
   - They live in very tall trees since their primary means of traveling is by
      gliding, and they are awkward on the ground. They don't have to worry
      about ground predators, but they do have to be wary of such animals as
      hawks.
   - With their natural instinct being to save up foods for the winter, they are very
      active hoarders. Make sure to check their nest regularly to discard any
      perishables!
   - Besides needing to chew regularly to keep their incisors trim, Flying
      Squirrels need extra calcium. Sterilized bones and pieces of deer antler
      work great for both these needs.

Comments from people who have kept this pet:

I got my flying squirrels from a job my husband did on a roof. The mother went of and left them so he brought them home. I didn't know what I was going to do. But now I would not take anything for them, they are my babies (lol). My 9 year old gets jealouse of them (lol). They want to be on me all the time. I had a cut from the dog and the squirels licked it like you see dogs do. They checked on it every day (I quess they call it grooming me, from my hands and to my arms. Now it has healed and never made a scab or left a mark. I was really surprised by that. I would recommend the Flying Squirrels to any one that is home a lot. When you are having a bad day they will make it bettter. I was going through depression, they helped my out without any meds.

Today I found some very tiny flying squirrels outside. Their mommy got crushed on the road so I brought them home. I fed them cat replacement milk and they are doing fine=). I think one is a boy and the other is a girl.

Our cats brought our little baby boy squirrels to us in Sept when they were pink and tiny. I fed them the recommended formula and now they are cute and tame, flying from one of us to the other off a cleaned branch in the living room, occasionally stopping to drink some coffee and eat a cookie. We put little doll santa hats on them and took a picture for the Christmas card this year! They are called Alpha and Omega and we hope to have them forever. I would love to have a female, but have never seen them in the wilds around here.

I am very close to Orlando and was gone this past week. When I got home last night my husband showed me what he found walking around in my sewing room--a baby flying squirrel. He is soooo cute! We think he came in the house the other night when my husband opened to back door to let the dog out (about 11pm) I have never seen them in the wild! I am giving him the formula that I used on other orphaned squirrels and have had success with. (The recipe came from a vet). I have been researching them online for about 3 hours and have read so many positive things about them. I am going to keep him as a pet! I cant find a nest in the trees, so I dont know how far from home he is. I love him already! Better go, its time for his next feeding....

On Thursday September 28,2007 I got a call from my cousin Dillon. He said that his sister Harley(my other cousin) and he had found a baby squirrel on my Nana's front porch. At first they wanted to keep it but they decided that since they didn't have the stuff to take care of it that they would let me have it. So my mom went and picked it up. Since it was late the feed store was closed, so she picked up some evaporated milk just for the night. That night I went online and found out that it was a Southern Flying Squirrel. The next day we got up and went to the feed store to buy a syringe and some Esbilac milk replacer. That night she opened her eyes, so I went online and tried to find out how old she is, it turned out that she is four weeks old. I have had her for four days now and she eats like a pig and she can now run around on the floor and climb around on my hands and arms. She is the sweetest thing, but mom and dad tell me and my sister Hanah not to get attached to it just in case something happens to it, so we haven't named her yet.

My friend is very close to her flying squirrel, as well as a certain owl :)

Author: Jasmine Brough