Southern flying squirrel

Southern Flying Squirrel ( Glaucomys volans )

The Southern Flying Squirrel ( Glaucomys volans ) is a rodent species from the family of squirrels ( Sciuridae ).

Features

The animal is 25 inches long, with about 10 inches accounted for by the long bushy tail. On both sides of the body between the front and hind legs, he wears a patagium called extensible fold of skin. The back, the outer side of the front and hind limbs, the upper part of the head and tail are brownish in color. The abdomen, the lower part of the head, the inside of the ears are white. As the animal is nocturnal, it has very large eyes on the head.

Dissemination

The Artareal the Southern flying squirrels ranges from the southern Atlantic coast of Canada to the Great Lakes south on the eastern half of the United States to the Gulf Coast. In Central America, there shall be scattered continuously over the Cordillera to Honduras. The occurrences follow the spread of mixed forests in temperate and subtemperatem climate. In the north, the presence of which is limited mainly by the replacement of such vegetation through the boreal forest. The distribution boundary largely coincides with the boundary between Canada and the U.S., only in southern Quebec pushes the Southern Flying Squirrel on larger area to Canada before. To the west limit low rainfall temperate mixed forest and favor instead the Great Plains, the distribution limit here follows approximately the 40 - and 50 -mm Jahresisohyeten. The Atlantic Coast is out, there are no major gaps due to the regular distribution of rainfall and the extensive mixed forests. In the south, the Gulf Coast limited the distribution area, still missing the kind only in the southwest corner of Florida.

The insular Central American deposits extend along the humid eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central and West, but are only poorly understood. In the Sierra Madre Occidental between Chihuahua and Sonora, a population is suspected, which is summarized in the subspecies G. volans madrensis. Their status is uncertain because it is busy only on the basis of two specimens from the 1920s. In the Sierra Madre Oriental is an occurrence from southern Tamaulipas extends to central Veracruz, which is placed in the subspecies G. v. herreranus. Maybe it extends over the oak forests of the Sierra Volcánica transversal way to Michoacán, where there is a single sighting.

Way of life

Likely risk of the animal from jumping from tree branches and leaves, thanks to its fold of skin, like a glider to the ground, so that distances of 20 to 50 meters can be bridged. Once on the ground, it quickly searches the nearest tree on to get back into the treetops, as it is on the ground can only move very awkward. During the day it sleeps through holes in trees. At dusk it goes on the hunt for insects, but it disdains not bird eggs, nuts, acorns and other forest fruits that it finds. Its natural enemies are especially owls and martens. For the winter, it creates larger inventories, which buries it under trees. In the winter, otherwise living alone for animals held in small groups of up to 15 animals together to warm each other, this reduces the energy consumption of a single animal by about 30%, also it lowers the risk of being surprised by potential predators.

Reproduction

The female gives birth twice a year, after a gestation period of one month, three to six young.

Threats and conservation measures

Although the habitat of the species is locally destroyed by tree felling, it is still relatively widespread and can be found even in protected areas. The IUCN lists them as not at risk ( least concern ).