• Thursday-What'sUP February 15 - 10:28 pm

When E. Neil Harri sent these night-time photos of a flying squirrel, my first thought was how rare they are. According to Neil though, these guys are nocturnal, so they're probably visiting most feeders around the Keweenaw, but you just don't see them yourself unless you're a night owl! They sure utilize that long, fluffy tail for hanging onto the suet feeder, making sure they get to finish dinner before they glide back to the ground or up in the tree again. I like the third photo of the diner's shy partner. Looks like he/she thinks it can't be seen hiding behind that branch!

Why do they think they should be eating the bird food all the time? LOL

Such cute pictures!

"Hey, yummy - free buffet!" :)

A friend of ours live trapped 28 of these in the attic crawl space this fall; they may look "cute", but in reality they are most destructive.

You need a tough feeder for any type of squirrel, I had one completely destroyed once. They are cute to watch anyway!

If you look at top of suet basket, you will see it is tied shut with a plastic tie wrap. I find they cannot open them and drop suet to ground. The squirrels need fat in this cold weather too. They are a fact of life on birdfeeders here so I just put out enough for everybody.I have not had any problems with feeder destruction since I got a metal sunflower seed holder with a metal cage around it. Neil

Poor little guys. We have squirrels in abundance and they deserve a snack along with the birds. They all get along in harmony and are a treat to watch
Thank you Neil, a real treat, never got to see a flying squirrel!

Thanks for the excellent picture, I've never seen one. It's so cute.

These little guys are great! Last August we got divebombed by one at our campsite at Fort Wilkins.

Near the end of November, we had one visit our bird feeder down here just south of the Muskegon breakwater. We name all of our squirrel visitors, and what other name was there for him (her?) but Rocky? Their tails are amazingly well-adapted to grasping things; he'll sit there chowing sunflower seeds with his tail wrapped tightly around the bottom of the feeder rim. Once he/she showed up with a pal. They're remarkably fast when they jump short distances; it's like watching a housefly dodge a swatter. Sometimes they simply freeze in place to avoid detection...probably not a bad strategy for a nocturnal creature. I managed to get a photo of Rocky from just a few feet away one night when I walked past the feeder and surprised him. He stayed fozen long enough for me to go inside and get the camera.

Once I inadvertently caught one of these guys in a Havahart trap. It was such a treat to be able to observe it up close. When I opened the trap door and released it, it jumped from the deck rail to the closest tree, scampered up the tree, and then sailed off silently into the night. It was soooo beautiful.

Deb, UMmmmm did you forget? They are flying squirrels-- maybe that's why they're going for the bird food-- They're just getting their wings... Ok I know that was bad, I'll be quiet now.

Geez Neil, it seems like you are either up in the air or in the dark!
Yep, I don't think there's anything in the world that is squirrel-proof. As far as destructive goes; it seems like all the breaking into attics to nest is usually due to a tree too close to the house. Hey, they're not stupid, that's warmer than a nest in the tree.

Neat Pics! We have these guys all the time at night in our trees and at the bird feeders! Lots of fun to watch! Our side drive floodlight shines right on a big Maple which has a eye level feeder on it along side the driveway. We get 1st class views lit up right out the kitchen window of them scampering around. Friends, relatives especially those from the big city are shocked to see them and that "Rocky" and friends do exist! (Dave H. has sat at our kitchen table many a time and watched them!)
I have several nice photos too of them! (soon to be in my guest photo gallery here!) They let me get quite close! It is difficult to get photos of any nocturnal species of mammals or birds with a flash since their eyes reflect strongly "red-eye" or white. Neil is just lucky or he has his camera settings right on for this!(?) These creatures are quite tame and often people can get them to eat right from your hand. I've almost got that perfected! Not quite yet. They say they can be tamed with patience and petted or as some have stated carried around in a coat pocket! I found one stunned once, picked it up and it bit my finger! I proceeded to report this to local animal control for rabies caution and they informed me squirrels just do not carry rabies, never had a case ever in MI. I was surprised to hear that. Well I'm still here! I've never heard of these being destructive (other then the bird food they eat!) I do know the Lil "Red Squirrels" can be destructive and terrorists! When I find the Flying Squirrels take one of my Bluebird Nest Boxes to use I let them be!

Russ Emmons St. Clair county MI

BTW: Since so many on this site are wildlife/bird lovers--watchers, I thought I would post about Cornells Great Backyard Bird Count that starts tomorrow. (I should have sent this to Mary or posted this sooner)
Lots of fun, easy. Open to all across North America. Your sightings are posted by the Zip code where seen! Go to www.birdsource.org/gbbc

OK, since Russ brought up bird watching and counts, I just had to add this picture that I took this past Monday, Feb. 12th, right in our backyard here in Lake Linden. Yes, you're seeing correctly, it IS a Robin!! There were actually two of them, but before I could grab my camera, the other one flew off. I'm just glad it turned out, since I took it through the window! Could this mean Spring is just around the corner?

Mary, they were also spotted in the Chicago area yesterday. Maybe they know something that we don't know!

I love robins. Mary, we have had robins in mid-Michigan year around for a number of years. Apparently some have them have adapted to the cold winters here in mid-Michigan. I guess this started a number of years ago when some did not migrate south in time, so they had to stay through the winter here. And, their offspring managed to adapt to the winters here, or so I have been told. I love seeing them: they still make me think of spring. But, alas, we can't look at them as a harbinger of spring like we could in the old days, at least here in mid-Michigan anymore. We can dream, though!

Russell E. E.

MS Office Picture Manager has a great utility for removing red-eye.

Select edit picture, select red-eye, put the cross hairs on the red-eye and wal-lah; no more red-eye.

I knew my good friend Russ E. would be posting on his Flying Squirrel's at his place.I have sat at his table looking out the window and seen them as he said.Have learned many lessons on wildlife from him,and he got me to become a bird watcher.Now here in E. TN.I see Robins and Bluebirds this time of year.In MI. I most often seen my first Robin around the middle of March.Russ can hear a bird and tell what kind it is,and that counts as a sighting.I bought me a Audubon clock at the Mill in Cades Cove,of course it has twelve birds to learn their songs.It takes some time to know what time it is by the sound of them.

Dave,

My daughter, who resides in the Ishpeming area, inherited one of
those kinds of clocks when she bought her place this summer.
Kind of neat.