![]() Flying squirrels can cover more than 150 feet in a single glide. It uses slight movements of the legs to steer, and the tail acts as a brake upon reaching its destination. When a flying squirrel wants to travel to another tree without touching the ground, it launches itself from a high branch and spreads out its limbs so the gliding membrane is exposed. They have a special membrane between their front and back legs that allows them to glide through the air between trees. Northern flying squirrels are 10 to 12 inches long.įlying squirrels might more appropriately be called “gliding squirrels” because they aren’t capable of true powered flight that a bird or a bat can do. When night comes, they go to their dreys or dens. The southern species is smaller, about 8 to 10 inches in length. Tree squirrels such as fox squirrels, grey squirrels and red squirrels aren’t nocturnal, and after foraging food during the day, they sleep at night. Habitat and range edit The northern flying squirrel is found in coniferous and mixed coniferous forests across the top of North America, from Alaska to Nova Scotia, south to the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee and west to Utah. ![]() Size is another way to tell northern and southern flying squirrels apart. Unlike most members of their family, flying squirrels are strictly nocturnal. They are both gray-brown, but the northern flying squirrel has belly fur that is gray at the base, and for the southern flying squirrel the belly fur is all white. Northern flying squirrels ( Glaucomys sabrinus) and southern flying squirrels ( Glaucomys volans) are the only two native flying squirrel species found in North America.
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