MAMMALS OF YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 



71 



'Mammals of Lake Taboe" by Robert T. Orr. Courtesy of publisher, California Academy of Sciences. 



FLYING SQUIRREL 



from which to start. It cannot fly by 

 its own power, as docs the bat. 



The trail camper in the coniferous for- 

 est belt is most likely to encounter flying 

 squirrels, especially if he sleeps without 

 a tent and keeps a flashlight handy. If 

 the bed is near a large tree, possibly a 

 shower of bark will rattle down when a 

 flying squirrel starts racing up the trunk 

 after completing a jump. Perhaps the 

 disturbance created as one (or more) of 

 them investigates the larder will awaken 

 the sleeper so he can use his flashlight 

 for observation. Administrative Assistant 

 Robert Mclntyre once had an entire 

 family of flying squirrels try to get the 

 trout from a creel hanging above his 

 sleeping bag while he was camped in the 

 Ten Lakes Basin. :: ' 



Seen at close range, the Sierra flying 

 squirrel is a lovely creature. The fur, 

 brownish-gray above, whitish below, is 

 soft, silky, dense and warm. The flat tail 

 looks more like a large feather from a 

 bird. Besides serving as a "balance rod" 



as in the case of the other tree squirrels, 

 it is believed to be used as a rudder dur- 

 ing "flights." The eye, large, dark and 

 lustrous, is a beauteous thing. It is be- 

 lieved that the large size of the eye as- 

 sists the flying squirrel to see better at 

 night. 



The diet includes more meat than is 

 generally true of squirrels. Insects are 

 taken, bird nests sometimes robbed, and 

 other flesh relished when obtainable. The 

 usual squirrel foods such as nuts, fruits, 

 berries, fungi, seeds and buds are eaten. 

 It is these that are stored by Sierra fly- 

 ing squirrels against the season of scar- 

 city, for they are active the year around. 



Pocket gophers, of which three kinds 

 are found in the park, spend most of 

 their lives underground. Yosemite forms 

 are from light to dark brown in color, 

 with head and body some six inches long, 

 plus a tail of about the proportions of 

 a match stick, bare at the end. With this 

 bare tip the gopher can feel any obstruc- 



►See Yosemite Nature Notes, (27)9: J13, September 1948. Sec also. (29)4: J6-41, April 1950, for an 

 interesting account of a captive Sierra flying squirrel. 



