How Do You Study Flying Squirrels?

Unlike humans, who respond to phone calls and fill out forms, flying squirrels are a bit more difficult to survey.  To study how many flying squirrels are in the forest and how they are being born and are surviving from one year to the next  you have to conduct a trapping study.  By trapping certain areas year after year we have an idea of how many flying squirrels are surviving, being born and dying due to old age or from predators.  When we visit an area we catch as many of the flying squirrels as we can, mark them with ear tags and then release them.  From the number of marked squirrels we catch again compared to the unmarked flying squirrels you can estimate the total number of squirrels in the area.

How Do You Trap A Flying Squirrel?

We study flying squirrels by setting live traps baited with peanut butter and apple.  Flying squirrels love peanut butter and when they enter the trap the door behind them closes and they are trapped!  In the trap we also have cotton bedding which provides a nice place for them to sleep after they have enjoyed their free meal.

How Do You Study The Movements Of Flying Squirrels?

Trapping allows you to know where the animals is located but if you want to understand more about where flying squirrels move you have to use a radio telemetry.  Radio collars are attached using a collar that fits around the flying squirrels neck.  The radio collar emitts a specific radio frequency that is broadcast through the forest.  This signal can travel for up to 2 kilometers.  You follow the signal using a attenna which tells you which direction the signal is strongest.  During the day flying squirrels are easy to locate because they are not moving, usually fast asleep. Night tracking can be difficult because flying squirrels move quickly and unlike flying squirrels humans are not adapted to night travel.

How Many Young Do Flying Squirrels Have?

There has been very little work on this and we don’t really know.  The number probably ranges from 2-6.  Flying squirrels like to make there nests high up in trees.  Some of these trees are to difficult or dangerous to climb to try and count the number of young.  Nest boxes are much easy to check and flying squirrels don’t seem too bothered by a quick check every once and a while.  In 2006 three local schools helped us make flying squirrel nest boxes.   Click here to learn more.

BACK TO MAIN RESEARCH PAGE