.2006.

On my trip home for Spring Break, I found that my dad had 6 new flying squirrels from the winter months and was taking care of them. Pictures from 2006 are on the Left. They're really cute and quiet animals! They seem to be very curious, yet at the same time nervous. I will take some more pictures during my stay.

We have 2 males, 4 females now. We let the last group go a few years ago, and this is the first surge since then that have found the hole in the roof to get in. When I came by today, one male was awake, and the other was peacefully asleep. The awake one then posed majestically for the camera. All four females were asleep, so I didn't bug them at all. I hope to get more pictures later.

Flying squirrels do make nice, quiet, low-maintenance exotic pets.

.2004.

As close to endangered as you can come, flying squirrels are fun to take care of...but not for an extended period of time.  One night, I was awakened at about 5 a.m., and I heard something scurrying around near my room's ceiling vent.  In a few seconds, I heard some metal scraping noises and then felt something on my arm.  My dad had mentioned in the last few days that there were probably flying squirrels crawling around in our attic, but it still felt like a lab rat!  Finally, I moved my arm quickly and it went flying up the curtains...

       It was a flying squirrel!

       After my dad walked in and tried to capture him, the flying squirrel glided down from the curtains.  It looked really cool, too.  He kinda leveled off and landed gently.  Flying squirrels have the little flap of skin in between their arms and legs that allows them to do just that.  In their natural environment, they have natural camouflage with trees since they are grayish-brown in color.
 
       We actually had 5 flying squirrels at one point in time!  My dad got two cages for them -- one for the male, the other for the females.  He always referred to the male's cage as the 'bachelor's condo'.

       All in all, they're very cute critters, but they require a decent amount of maintenance, too.  They're naturally neat creatures, but they still need a cage change.  They're very showy animals, too.  The females loved to do backflips with the cage walls for minutes on end!  The flying squirrels were peaceable, as well.  They didn't fight over food much at all.  I suppose the majority of fighting comes during mating season, and between males vying for a female.

       The cage will cost a bunch, but the food won't -- unless you get the fattest squirrel ever!


Here are some good flying squirrel tips:

Feed them acorns and other nuts, with pecans and peanuts as treats.
Give them fruit to maintain good digestion.
Keep them in an environment with dull lights or none at all  (Just make sure you can see enough to feed them).
Get a cage big enough for them to explore and run around in with interest.
Always have water for them to drink!

       On April 8 of that year, we released the squirrels at Umstead Park.  There were tons of ticks there, so they will be happy!  Ticks are tasty with an E-Y to flying squirrels!  We left a little place with some pecans & peanuts for them, so we hope they have taken advantage of that.