Studying Our Flying Squirrels

We encourage the use of the images presented on this page for educational uses such as school projects, essays and reports. All we ask in return is that you credit "FlyingSquirrels.com" when employing these photos in your school work. Any use of these photos for purposes other than a school students' education-related needs is strictly prohibited unless authorized, in writing, by Hummingbird Services. For all other uses, please refer to this page. Many of the images below are taken from field studies being conducted in the Bruce and Grey Counties in Ontario, Canada. We'll be adding images from various research initiatives from across North America in the future.
Here we are placing a nesting box. We try to place our boxes at heights between 4 and 6 metres.	We record the exact location of each box with a GPS unit. Myriad other data are recorded. Northern flying squirrels prefer older-growth coniferous forest like this Bruce County forest pictured above.	Each box is uniquely identified. Above is a label destined for box #119 which will be placed on a property held by the Grey-Sauble Conservation Authority. Here are a bunch of nesting boxes destined for placement on Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority lands.
We recycle! Our nesting boxes are made from donated wood reclaimed by Thistlewood Timber Frame Homes.	Kids, can you guess who destroyed the nesting box on the right? Despite our best efforts to build our boxes without leaving traces of salt (from sweaty hands), some boxes will inevitably fall victim to, you guessed it, porcupines ... usually resulting in our having to replace the complete box. This is why we don't use plywood for our box construction, as the glues within the plywood contain sodium compounds (salt)!
A look inside a nesting box that was being used by a solitary male in July of 1997. Males tend to construct low-loft, rudimentary nests. Females (gravid or with young) tend to build high-loft, finely shredded nests.	At birth, northern flying squirrel pups weigh between 4 and 6 grams. Their internal organs are visible through their skin. These four pups are approximately 6 days old. Except for a few short vibrissae (whiskers), they were born hairless, "blind" and unable to hear sound. Their eyes are sealed shut, as are their ears. They will grow very rapidly, thanks in part to a very attentive mother.	At approximately 11 days of age, these 6 northern flying squirrel pups are showing a distinct darkening or the skin on the head and back. Toes begin to separate, and short hairs begin to appear on the head, shoulders and chest. Soon their ear canals will begin to open.
At about 20 days old, pups will react to sound.This little guy is between 3 and 4 weeks of age - eyes are almost ready to open and upper and lower incisors have erupted.	As a rule, northern flying squirrel pups in Grey & Bruce are born during the late April/early May window.	This pup (see pic on left) had a case of "the sleepies". A common occurrence, we find that some flyer babies at this age would simply rather just sleep - regardless of handling!
The "spread reflex" is an innate response. Scientists speculate this facilitates a softer landing, should a young flyer fall from its nest.	Here is a look inside a nesting box just brimming with juvenile northerns who are almost qualified for their "G1 gliders licence"! They began leaving the nest for very short periods at about five weeks of age. This bunch (4 of 'em) is between 6 and 7 weeks of age - almost completely weaned and ready to take on the world.	Setting a live-trap. We set our traps close to nightfall. This helps to reduce non-target animal catches, especially diurnal red squirrels. A closed trap is a useless trap unless it contains the target animal!
This little guy is about 5 weeks old - not quite ready for prime time! Note the length of the snout in relation to body size, compared to that of an adult. Some recent research has indicated a correlation between skull shape and age.	Here he is again. Flyers are very difficult to handle as they are so small and fragile - not recommended for the faint of heart! Adults can and will bite.	Employing a precision digital caliper, we measure various parts of the squirrel (i.e. nasals, tail length & width, body length, ear (from notch), hind foot length, and skull length & width).
We weigh every squirrel with a Pesola 300g spring scale. Flyers under 6 weeks of age are weighed with a digital platform scale.	20 to 30 hair shafts with roots are taken from each animal and submitted to OMNR's Landscape Genetics division in Peterborough for micro-satellite DNA analysis.	This is an aggregate box. Some of our aggregate boxes (like this one) are fitted with high-tech infrared video cameras that allow us to monitor and record behaviours within the aggregate. Fascinating TV without commercials!
Six red squirrel pups - red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) often utilize our nest boxes. There are 25 sub-species of red squirrel in North America. Their primary food source? Confier seeds (spruce cones, pine cones, etc.).	This red squirrel pup is about 2 1/2 weeks old. Red squirrel pups develop more quickly than flying squirrel pups and are capable of independent survival in 7 weeks.	BLANK