Flying Squirrels

Identification

A southern flying squirrel is quite small, 1/3 the size of a gray squirrel, adults are usually 9-11" long including the tail, and weigh between 2-4oz. hey are a grayish brown with a white belly and have a black ring around their large black eyes. A fold of skin stretches from the wrist of each front leg to the ankle of each rear leg.

This membrane, called a patagium, is used by flying squirrels to glide from tree to tree. Although the southern flying squirrel can glide 150 ft or more from a height of 60 ft. Glides up to 240 feet have been recorded. They can easily turn at right angles and control direction of their glide by tensing and turning their legs and body, and flapping their tail.

Active all year round, the southern flying squirrel will form small groups in the winter and share a common nest to keep warm. Numbers as many as 50 individuals have been found in one nest in winter.  The southern flying squirrel is nocturnal, active primarily at night… therefore not often seen by people. In some areas, the southern flying squirrel may actually outnumber the more conspicuous and familiar gray squirrel.  They eat nuts (acorns, hickory, etc.), seeds, berries, and insects. They will also eat bird eggs, bird nestlings, insects and occasionally dead mice.  Their favorite nuts are pecans.  Click to see them in action:
http://www.flyingsquirrels.com/Video/Wild/index.html

The Southern Flying Squirrel breeds in spring and early summer, with the females breeding with different males each time.  They have up to two litters of 2-7 young produced following a 40 day gestation period. 

Southern flying squirrels show substantial homing abilities and will detect pheromones in previous years’ nest even after it has been moved up to 40,000 square meters from females, and double that for males.  Predators include owls, hawks, and raccoons.

Scratching noises in attic, eaves or soffits, visual confirmation of squirrels on the roof or in attic, or inside the home through holes or gaps are common ways to detect a flying squirrel problem.  It is their small size that make them rather difficult to control. Flyers only need 1/2 inch hole to enter a building in contrast to a gray squirrel which needs 1 1/2 inches.  The exclusion involves sealing up any holes larger than a thumbnail and any linear crack wider than a pinky finger along all areas above 6” off the ground.  This is what a 1/2” hole looks like:

Health Risks

As with all attic dwellers, flying squirrels have a latrine area which can create airborne health hazards including viruses cased by drayed rodent feces. Flying squirrels have been implicated as possible carriers of Typhus. They also shed hair and bring in parasites when they move into a building. Dead squirrels (most cases babies that die at birth) will cause an extremely foul odor. Squirrels also create a fire hazard as they gnaw on electrical wiring. They are much more aggressive than their Northern counterparts and will defend their young vigorously.