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Flying Squirrel — Part 2
Images coming soon.
Professor F. H. King, in describing some that he kept in his house, says: "I have never known wild animals that became so perfectly familiar and confiding as these young squirrels did; and they seemed to get far more enjoyment from playing upon my person than in any other place, running in and out of pockets and between my coat and vest. After the frolic was over they always esteemed it a great favour if I would allow them to crawl into my vest in front and go to sleep there, where they felt the warmth of my body; and it was very rare indeed during the first six months that they failed to ask the privilege; indeed, they came to consider themselves abused if turned out. When forced to go to sleep by themselves, the attitude taken was amusing: the nose was placed upon the table or other object it happened to be upon, and then it would walk forward over it, rolling itself up until the nose almost protruded from between the hind legs; the tail was then wrapped in a horizontal coil about the feet, and the result was an exquisite little ball of life in soft fur which it seemed almost sacrilegious to touch."
Species and Varieties of Flying Squirrels
We have two very different flying squirrels in the East, each divisible into two slightly different races.
1. Southern Flying Squirrel. Sciuropterus volans Linnaeus. Description and range as above.
2. Florida Flying Squirrel. S. Volans querceti Bangs. More russet than the preceding, somewhat rusty on the under parts.
3. Northern Flying Squirrel. S. sabrinus macrotis Mearns. Larger than the above (11.25 inches long), with the fur of the under parts always gray at the base. Colour, cinnamon brown in summer, sooty brown in winter, a black ring around the eye.
4. Severn River Flying Squirrel. S. sabrinus (Shaw). Still larger (14 inches long), with shorter and broader ears.