Animals Animals/Earth Scenes The flying squirrel does not actually fly â€" it glides.
Few of us ever get a good view of a flying squirrel, but then again, not many of us know they truly exist. Not unlike its cartoon depiction, as the brainy, be-goggled sidekick of Bullwinkle the Moose, the Southern flying squirrel is an impressively well-adapted resident of New York City. With a preference for older beech and oak woods, these squirrels are primarily nocturnal. An uncommon habitat and our very urban instinct to avoid late-night walks through obscure woodlands make finding one a deliberate effort.
The flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) does not actually fly â€" it glides. When a squirrel leaps from its perch in a tall tree, it spreads its limbs, stretching out its two patagia (thick, furred membranes that extend from its wrists to its ankles). In this way, a squirrel less than 10 inches long (including a tail almost half that length) can, in a single bound, cover 150 feet or more, gliding through the treetops effortlessly.
A nighttime jump through a dense canopy of leaves and branches requires keen senses, and the squirrel is suitably equipped. The enormous, soft brown eyes that make them so irresistible to humans are actually a significant part of the squirrels’ survival strategy. A squirrel triangulates with movements of its head before making its longest leaps, suggesting an advanced spatial sense.
The squirrels are also equipped with some of the longest whiskers in the squirrel world. These long vibrissae point forward in flight, assisting in the navigation of the tight spaces among leaves and branches. The whiskers are also useful for negotiating small crevices and nesting cavities, where little or no light ever shines.
The squirrel’s flattened tail is more accurately described as a counterbalance than a rudder, and can break away, like the tails of some lizards and salamanders. An attacking predator may be left holding only a piece of writhing tail, rather than a tasty squirrel meal, if it grabs it at the wrong spot. Unfortunately, unlike lizards and salamanders, a flying squirrel cannot grow its tail back; it simply adapts to its loss.
It is hard to say how many flying squirrels populate New York City’s five boroughs, but surveys by the parks department in conjunction with universities and environmental groups have identified the tiny squirrels in Forest Park and Alley Pond Park in Queens. Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan also has a verified population, as do Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and Blue Heron Park on Staten Island. Squirrels may also glide through Pelham Bay Park’s older woods, and any of several of Staten Island’s older forests.
Flying squirrels eat a wide variety of foods, from acorns and beech nuts to fruit, mushrooms and even eggs or nestling birds. But as a general rule, they are drawn to open water, so finding woodlands near a source of fresh water is often critical to finding a flying squirrel.
