Sabrina is a northern flying squirrel, Glaucomys sabrinus sabrinus.  Sabrina is a "working squirrel", which means she helps her handler  teach young and old about flying squirrels and forest ecology.

Of all the squirrel species in North America, the northern flying squirrel is likely the most common, but we don't appreciate this fact because these animals are small, arboreal and only come out at night. Of the 25 sub-species of northern flying squirrel, Sabrina's is by far the most widespread and common.

Sabrina is American by birth (northern Minnesota) and her full scientific name is Glaucomys sabrinus sabrinus. She was born in mid-May, and  when we drove to the USA to pick her up and bring her back to Canada, she was only 6 weeks old and weighed in at 24 grams!

Sabrina's current measurements, at 2 1/2 years of age, are:

Weight - 122.3 gm (4.31 oz)
Body Length - 138.2 mm (5.36 in)
Tail  Length - 116.0 mm (4.56 in)
Hind Foot Length - 36.2 mm (1.42 in)

Truth be told, Sabrina is not really an American flying squirrel per se - her subspecies is actually more common and widespread in Canada than the USA. Not to mention the fact that literally hundreds, if not thousands, of northern flying squirrels cross the border, back and forth, every single night during their travails through the forest.

Once Sabrina was safely ensconced in her new home in Ontario, she was bottle-fed a special formula 4 times a day, and lived inside the shirt pocket of her owner, because he needed Sabrina to be fully bonded to him in order to fulfill her duties in the unfamiliar surroundings she visits. When Sabrina got too big for her owner's pocket, she found her owner's shirt to be her favourite place to "hang out" during the daylight hours.

As we just stated previously, our Sabrina is a "working squirrel" - she visits different venues all the time, helping her owner spread the wonder of the forest to young and old.

In the wild, northern flying squirrels, (if they live past the most dangerous first year of life), can often live to the age of four years. The usual cause of death is predation, however, other causes can be internal parasite infestation (directly or indirectly), exposure to cold weather for long periods, metabolic bone disease (uncommon in the wild) and starvation due to mast failure, competition or  malocclusion. In captivity, and if properly cared for, northern flying squirrels can live 10 to 15 years, or even longer. We have one report of a captive southern flying squirrel living to the age of 20 years!