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FLYING SQUIRREL AT 1/5000 SECOND

CY HAMPSON PHOTO

Squirrels hide nufs in unusual places

Gail Martin, associated with an
Animal Recovery group telep-
honed from Langley requesting
information about perhaps the
most intriguing mammal in British
Columbia, the Northern Flying
Squirrel.

Four very young, naked young-
sters had been brought in a year
ago in the hope that something
could be done for them.

Mrs. Martin was able to obtain
only the sketchiest information
about them since so little has been
published.

“A friend of yours told me that
you had studied the species seri-
ously for six years.”

“Yes, six absorbing years work-
ing on their natural history, aero-
dynamics, locomotor patterns and
associated morphology.”

“Good. Is four the usual litter
size?”

“Quite common. It varies from
one to five with the average being
almost exactly three. How many
did you manage to save?”

“We lost only one. How long do
the youngsters stay with the par-
ents?”

“They often stay with them
throughout the first winter. A fam-
ily or two may gang up in the same
woodpecker cavity where their
combined volume reduces the sur-
face to volume ratio. They are
keeping each other warm by hud-
dling closely.”

“How common are they?”

“They have a very broad range,
extending down the Rockies from
Alaska to Mexico and eastward in
favourable habitat to Ontario. They
are common in Mainland B.C. but
few people see them since they are
nocturnal.”

“What do they eat in the wild?”

“Buds of aspen poplar and
paper birch, hazel nuts, rose hips,
bermies of many kinds, pussy wil-
lows, the seeds from spruce cones,
lichens and fungi and the bark of
young twigs. They also have a
sweet tooth.”

“A sweet tooth?”

“Yes, ours were very fond of ice
cream. They always licked our
nearly empty cartons until they
were squeaky clean.”

“How many did you have and
what did you feed them?”

“We had 132 before we released
them. In addition to their natural
food, they were very fond of
evaporated milk, many kinds of
huts, grapes. oranges, and espe-

_ cially, rolled oats.”

“132! Wow, you must have had
fun.!”

“We did. When Mary opened a
door in one of their large outdoor
cages, they swarmed all over her.
Into her pockets to hide nuts,
parting her hair to stash nuts there,
perched on her shoulders, rushing

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up the legs of her slacks. One lady
who had been out to see them
phoned after arriving back in the
city. She found three hazel nuts
hidden away in her garter belt.”

“What did you find most intri-
guing?””

“Their aerodynamics. Their
ability to control their gliding
trajectones. They could accelerate,
brake, steer with incredible accu-
racy and orient the body beauti-
fully in preparation for landing
upon either vertical or horizontal
surfaces. They could even spiral
round and round a tall tree when
gliding downward.”

“Td like to see that! Where do
they live, naturally?”

“Mostly in abandoned woo-
dpecker cavities and usually in
areas with mixed woods, not grow-
ing too densely. This gives them
space for gliding.”

“The ones brought to us were
still blind and the ears were fused
to the sides of the head. When do
their eyes open?”

“At age 33 days. Then they can
see at last. And what a change in
behavioral patterns follows!”

TheReview Wednesday, July 24,1991 — A16

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