![]() "In fact, if people want, you can actually watch flying squirrels come to your bird feeders if you do certain things," Pollpeter explains. You kind of just skip the middle man and jump from one place to place," Pollpeter says.įlying squirrels are mainly nocturnal, so your chances of having to dodge a furry, airborne creature are relatively low. "The reasons why flying squirrels have this is to avoid predation, but also, it's more efficient than climbing down a tree, running across the ground, and climbing up another tree. They have a flat tail that acts as a rudder." Their rudder-like tail allows flying squirrels to make 180 degree turns mid-glide, giving them complete control as they "fly" through the air. They don't have a bushy tail like the gray squirrel or the fox squirrel. "The coolest part about their design is they have that parachute that you see.the skin flaps between their wrist and their ankles.but they also have a flat tail. Some have even been seen as much as 300 feet," Pollpeter explains. "A flying squirrel can actually glide, parachute almost, 150 feet. Flying squirrels don't fly - rather, they glide. The aerodynamic mammal's name is a little misleading, as are other similarly named flying fish, frogs, snakes, lemurs, or reptiles. What you may not realize is they're coming to visit your bird feeders, your suet feeders, in the middle of the night. If you have oak trees in.or near your yard, you probably have flying squirrels. That just tells you that their density is pretty high, and they're found almost in every community. ![]() ![]() , some scientists have found as many as fifty flying squirrels in one tree hole. "Flying squirrels are cavity nesters, which means they live in holes in trees. Kentucky's high flying squirrel population is due to "the fact that they can live in large numbers in smaller areas," he continues. You have the common Eastern gray squirrel the larger fox squirrel which you see more in countrysides and big, open spaces chipmunks might be in some people's yards groundhogs but the one I always think is kind of neat.and that happens to be the most abundant squirrel in Kentucky is the Southern flying squirrel." Kentucky has about five different kinds of squirrels that you're going to find around here. "They obviously have a lot of comedy associated with them. "I actually love squirrels - I think they're fun to watch," Pollpeter begins. John Pollpeter, lead naturalist at Land Between the Lakes' Woodlands Nature Station, speaks with Tracy Ross about Kentucky's state mammal, the Eastern gray squirrel, and its aerodynamic relative, the Southern flying squirrel.
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