If you’ve seen a flying squirrel in its natural habitat, you’ve witnessed something rare.
In this case, Jody Gilliam and her husband Mike Mulcahey have been fortunate multiple times. The Vickery Place homeowners, who have since moved to Austin, have seen the flying squirrels on four to six occasions, particularly last fall and winter.
“Who doesn’t love little fuzzy things?” Gilliam says. “When we first heard about this whole flying squirrel thing, we were instantly mesmerized.”
Well, Gilliam had heard of these creatures before but didn’t think they would be found in Texas. Mulcahey saw the first one on a pole in their alley, and since it was using “winged” arms to climb, he thought it was a bat.
Then, the critter took flight.
“Instead of just flying off like a bird flies off or a bat flies off, it did this bomb dive where it goes straight down before it goes out,” Gilliam says.
After consulting the internet and a friend, she concluded that a flying squirrel had been in the alley.
Gilliam is not alone in thinking of flying squirrels as existing outside of Dallas. Lots of people are amazed that these critters find homes within the Metroplex, says Sam Kieschnick, Texas Parks and Wildlife urban wildlife biologist. The Southern Flying Squirrel resides in the eastern half of Texas and the U.S., and Dallas-Fort Worth is as far west as they’re normally seen.
Despite their name, the flying squirrels don’t actually fly, Kieschnick says. They don’t have actual wings but skin flaps between their limbs that allow them to glide on the wind. The squirrels live in tall trees, so this helps them get around to look for nuts and seeds or escape owls and snakes.
Since the first sighting, Gilliam has spotted the flying squirrels but has only been able to get a glimpse for a second as they flee from her flashlight beam. She recognizes them by the squeaking and chirping sound they make. In fact, she says anyone wanting to try to see one should get to know the noise they make and listen for them.
“I was amazed at how loud and obnoxious their noises were and for how long they would make those noises because to me that would just signal a predator,” she says. “But they must have some reason for it.”
That reason is communication, Kieschnick says, including when they travel in groups. The flying squirrels are active year-round, but they might be more visible in the colder months because they need to move around more to work up more body heat. And if they are living in trees that lose their leaves in the winter, you may have a better chance at seeing them then.
“They’re super, super secretive, mostly because they’re nocturnal, too,” Kieschnick says, adding that they also need to keep hidden to avoid being dinner. “If you’re food, you don’t want to be seen by someone that’s hungry.”
Because of this, Gilliam has a hard time convincing others to believe they live in our neighborhood. Even Kieschnick has never seen one in the wild.
“There was one day I came home from work, and I heard one in the neighbor’s yard,” she says. “I’m standing there in my neighbor’s yard just trying to get eyes on it because I know it’s in the top of this tree. The postman comes by, and I’m like, ‘There’s a flying squirrel in the top of this tree,’ and he looks at me like, ‘Are you crazy?’ He just keeps on walking, and I’m like, ‘OK, never mind. I don’t want to be that crazy lady.’”
Kieschnick mentioned hearing of someone using a trail or game camera to catch a glimpse of flying squirrels. But anyone who tries this needs to be prepared to see all kinds of wildlife, including rats.
Gilliam hasn’t had the experience of the flying squirrels being as destructive as regular squirrels, but Kieschnick says they have the tendency to chew on things. Like all rodents, their incisor teeth never stop growing.
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“To keep those from growing into the back of their brain, basically, they have to chisel down those incisors,” he says. “If there’s something that they can use to chisel down those incisors, they will use that. That can sometimes mean the balcony of our houses or wires, even things like wires that they’re not using to eat; they’re using to chisel. Like all squirrels and like all rodents, they can potentially be pests or nuisances. What I tell people about basically all squirrels and rodents is just finding the ways around your home to prevent them from gaining access.”
For anyone who has seen one up close, or at least has Googled a picture of them, prepare to fall in love. These flying squirrels are about 6-8 inches long (smaller than standard squirrels), soft and have big, doe eyes.
“They’re so dang cute,” Kieschnick says. “They’re just so adorable.”
The flying squirrels’ big eyes have a purpose — because they are nocturnal, they need eyes that can absorb as much light as possible at night, the urban wildlife biologist says. He also points out that just because they’re attractive doesn’t mean they would make good pets.
And if you do get a picture or sound recording of a flying squirrel, Kieschnick recommends uploading it to iNaturalist so that biologists and naturalists can gather data about them.
“If we don’t see any reports of them for the next years and years and years, then we have an idea of, ‘Oh my goodness, something is happening here with flying squirrels,’” he says. “Or on the other side, maybe they’re doing well in urbanization, and we start seeing them spread more to the west. It’s by people that document this stuff that we can make those kinds of assumptions and get evidence for it, too.”
Gilliam was in disbelief the first time she saw a flying squirrel and now is grateful for the experience.
“It is kind of unreal, and it’s just an amazing moment of nature to witness something like that in an urban setting like Dallas, Texas,” she says. “The raccoons are one thing, and the opossums are another. But when you see a flying squirrel, it’s always special.”
