46G 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



on the other side. I was standing only a few- 

 yards to one side of the falling squirrel and the 

 widely spread feet and legs were perfectly out- 

 lined against the sky. It was evident that this 

 squirrel and probably all of its kind appreciate 

 that such an attitude will help break the force 

 of the descent. This suggested the possibility 

 of a similar habit having influenced the origin 

 of the flying squirrel's membranes. 



One summer day in the Sierra Madre of 

 western Durango I sat on a mountain slope 

 watching for game. Below me stood the hol- 

 low-topped stub of an oak, the top being on a 

 level with my eyes and about twenty yards 

 away. Soon after I arrived the heads of four 

 half-grown squirrels of the Abert family ap- 

 peared in a row at the upper border of the 

 opening, their bright eyes turning on all sides. 

 Suddenly a hawk glided by, one of its wing tips 

 almost brushing the noses of the squirrels. In- 

 stantly they vanished from sight and a noise of 

 scratching and frightened chattering continued 

 for several minutes, as though they were bury- 

 ing themselves under the nest. About twenty 

 minutes later the boldest of the family showed 

 the tip of his nose at an opening in a hollow 

 branch near the top of the stub, but it required 

 another ten minutes for him to venture forth 

 his head. Finally, becoming confident that no 

 danger threatened, he came out on the limb 

 and deliberately stretched himself, yawning as 

 widely as his little mouth would permit, after 

 which he flirted his tail and frisked over to the 

 trunk of the stub, where he began frolicking 

 about with all the abandon of a kitten at play. 

 When I departed his more timorous companions 

 were still peering fearfully out of the hole, an- 

 ticipating the return of the dreaded hawk. 



THE FLYING SQUIRREL (Glaucomys 

 volans and its relatives) 



{For illustration, see page 449) 



No one can see one of our small flying squir- 

 rels in life without being charmed by its deli- 

 cate grace of form and velvety fur, nor fail to 

 note the large black eyes which give it a pleas- 

 ing air of lively intelligence. Flying squirrels 

 are distinguished from all other members of 

 the squirrel family by extensions of the skin 

 along the sides, which unite the front and hind 

 legs, so that when the animal leaps from some 

 elevated point with legs outspread the mem- 

 brane and the underside of the body present a 

 broad, flat surface to the air. This enables it 

 to glide swiftly down in a diagonal course 

 toward a tree trunk or other vertical surface 

 on which it desires to alight. It is able to con- 

 trol its movements and to turn with ease to one 

 side or the other, or upward before alighting. 

 When gliding down a wooded hillside or through 

 thick growths of timber, it is thus able to avoid 

 obstacles and alight on the desired place. 



Flying squirrels are circumpolar in distribu- 

 tion. In the Old World they occupy forested 

 areas in eastern Europe, and nearly all of Asia. 

 In the New World they are peculiar to North 



America, where they frequent nearly all the 

 wooded parts from the Arctic Circle to the 

 Alex lean border, and in forests in Mexico along 

 the eastern border o\ the highlands as well as 

 through Chiapas and Guatemala. In Asia, the 

 center of development of these interesting ro- 

 dents, many extraordinary forms occur. Some 

 are giants of their kind, measuring nearly four 

 feet in total length. In America there are two 

 groups of species, the smaller and better known 

 of which, the subject of this sketch, occupies 

 the eastern United States and southward. The 

 northern and western animals are larger, some 

 of them more than twice the weight of the 

 eastern species. 



In many parts of the United States flying 

 squirrels are common and even abundant, but 

 their habits are so strictly nocturnal that they 

 are infrequently seen. They make their homes 

 in woodpecker holes, knot-holes, and hollows in 

 limbs, and trunks of trees and stubs. In ad- 

 dition they take possession of many odd places 

 for residence, among which may be mentioned 

 bird-boxes, dove-cotes, attics, cupboards, boxes, 

 and other nooks in occupied or unoccupied 

 houses that are located within or at the borders 

 of woods. 



They also make nests of leaves, lining them 

 with fine fibrous bark, grass, moss, fur, or other 

 soft material placed securely in the branches 

 or in forks in trees. They often remodel old 

 bird or squirrel nests into snug homes for 

 themselves. The size and construction of these 

 outside nests vary according to the locality and 

 the material available. 



As a rule, the nests are small and accommo- 

 date only a single pair with their young, and 

 sometimes hold only a single individual, but nu- 

 merous exceptions to this have been observed. 

 In southern Illinois fifty flying squirrels were 

 discovered in one nest in a tree; in Indiana 

 fifteen were found in a hollow stump; and 

 near Philadelphia thirty were evicted from a 

 martin box they had usurped. 



In the southern part of their range flying 

 squirrels are active throughout the year, but in 

 the North they become more or less sluggish 

 if they do not actually reach the stage of real 

 hibernation during the severest weather. 



Their food is extremely varied and includes 

 whatever nuts grow in their haunts, as beech- 

 nuts, pecans, acorns, and others, with many kinds 

 of seeds, including corn gathered in the field, 

 and buds, and fruits of many kinds. They also 

 eat many insects, larvae, birds and their eggs, 

 and meat. Taking advantage of their known 

 liking for bird flesh, they may frequently be 

 caught by concealing a trap on top of a log in 

 the woods and scattering bird feathers over 

 and about it. Trappers for marten and other 

 forest fur-bearers are much annoyed in winter 

 by the persistence with which the flying squir- 

 rels search out their traps and become caught 

 in them, thus forestalling a more valued cap- 

 ture. Trappers in Montana who run long lines 

 of traps for marten through the mountain for- 

 ests capture hundreds of these squirrels in a 

 single season. 



