Well if you already knew we had flying squirrels in the Pacific Northwest then I’m impressed. But have you ever seen one? Much like the elusive Mountain Beaver I would probably have had to look it up if you asked me if flying squirrels lived here in Washington. It turns out we have two species, the recently discovered Humboldt Flying Squirrel, and the Northern Flying Squirrel. The Humboldt Flying Squirrel has always been here, but only recently by DNA tests did they discover they were a unique species and not the Northern Flying Squirrel.
The Northern Flying Squirrel is larger and a little lighter in color which is why I believe the one is a Humboldt Flying Squirrel. Both are nocturnal so this was quite a rare find to see one in daylight. Pacific Northwest Flying squirrels live near the tops of trees and generally are only active at night, so finding one on the ground in daytime is quite special.
Curious I walked back up to her bus stop with her and we investigated. I had no idea what we were looking at, a teenager walking by looked at us funny and said with full confidence that it was a mouse. But I was not convinced, that tail looked closer to a squirrel then a mouse, but it was small and the tail was more flat than bushy. After looking up moles, voles, squirrels and other pacific northwest rodents we saw a picture of a Pacific Northwest Flying Squirrel. That was it! You can tell by the darker color on the back, the shape and size of the tail and the line between the light and dark color between back and belly.
They are apparently not uncommon but being that they live at the tops of trees and are not active in the daytime you just never see them. This one was clearly hungry as you can see he found some ripe apples that had fallen from a tree and was also finding berries on the ground. We were concerned how close it kept getting to the road so we sort of scared it back away from the road and hope that after it’s meal it made it home safe to a nearby tree!
Useful Links and Info:
- Read our last post about California’s Channel Island Scrub Jay.
- Pick up a good PNW hiking book or some Green Trails Maps.
- Check out all our other birding and nature adventures here.
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- Most of these shots were taken with the Sony a7 along with the Sony FE 200-600mm lens.
- Always bring bug spray and sun screen when birding!
