An Unusual Mammal

It flies? No it glides Earl Plato
I don’t know if they believed me. I had just described my sighting many years ago of a Southern flying squirrel at the entrance to Marcy Woods. The Special Needs Class of St.Paul’s High School and some parents and helpers listened to my oft repeated spiel. We stopped at the site of our sighting. “One early morning Ray Willwerth and I saw a southern flying squirrel glide from the high top of that spruce tree over there. It sailed several feet and landed over there at the top of another spruce. I knew what I saw for I had seen flying squirrels before. The word is ‘glide’ not ‘fly.’ The Ministry of Natural Resources did a study of Marcy Woods and found at least three pairs of these unique squirrels there. They are mainly nocturnal creatures so it’s as an unusual sight.” What do you know about this Carolinian mammal?
Not much you say. You need to be in the woods at night and luckily your flashlight will reveal the large bright shining black eyes of this miniscule squirrel. It is a very small squirrel with a silky fur coat. The ones I saw were grayish-brown on top and white underneath. It has a fkattened gra-brown tail. Think small. Length from 7 3/4 inches (198 mm) to 10 1/8 inches (255 mm.). Shagbark Trail enthusiasts listen. They like shagbark hickory, beech and maple trees. Let’s import some of these attractive squirrels, eh.?