150 Order RODENTIA 



referred to as flying). To get from one tree to another, per- 

 haps 30 or more yards away, a flying squirrel does not need to 

 go to the ground and expose itself to dangers there, fig. 1. In- 

 stead, it leaps, spreads its legs so that the fold of skin on each 

 side of the body is fully extended, fig. 84, and, aided by the flat- 

 tened tail, glides to the trunk of a distant tree. The direction 

 of the glide can be controlled somewhat by movement of the 

 tail and the membrane. The squirrel does not fly in the sense 

 that it flaps the membrane, nor is its point of landing ever higher 

 than its point of departure. 



The southern flying squirrel is found in areas that are heavily 

 wooded, but not so heavily wooded as to prevent gliding, and 

 that have trees with ample woodpecker holes or similar cavities 

 in which to make nests. In one of these cavities a female may 

 have one or two litters of two to six young each year. The first 

 litter is born in late March or early April and the second in 

 August. The flying squirrel feeds on nuts, seeds, tree buds, 

 fruits, insects, and birds' eggs. 



This is the commonest squirrel in much of the heavy t'mber 

 of Illinois. Noisy taps on a hollow tree or on a tree with wood- 

 pecker holes may cause a sleepy flying squirrel to poke its head 

 out of one of the cavities. Several individuals may occupy one 

 cavity, for these animals are quite sociable. They make ideal 

 pets. 



Signs. — Tracks of the flying squirrel are rarely seen. The 

 footprints are like those of other tree squirrels. Prints of the 

 hind feet are each about 1^4 inches long. Opened nuts beneath 

 an old woodpecker hole in a tree may indicate the presence of 

 one or more flying squirrels. Nuts opened by a flying squirrel 

 have a roughly circular opening and are not largely gnawed 

 away, as are those opened by the gray squirrel or the fox squir- 

 rel. Tooth marks of the flying squirrel are finer than those of 

 the other tree squirrels common in Illinois. 



Distribution. — The southern flying squirrel occurs in mature 

 woodlands of Illinois, and probably it is common in such habi- 

 tats. Individuals in this state are of the subspecies Glaucomys 

 volans volans (Linnaeus). The species has a disjunct range; 

 one population occupies approximately the eastern half of the 

 United States (except northern New England) ; one occurs in 

 the central part of the Central American countries; a third 

 occurs in the central part of the Mexican Plateau. 



