Flying Squirrels

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted August 11, 2012162 views4 comments

I think of this as Man & Nature, but it doesn't fit the description for that gallery, so here it is.

Our bird feeder in the Adirondacks of New York State often attracts the strictly nocturnal "flying squirrels," native only to North America. They glide (not fly) rapidly and beautifully, with lift provided by a membrane that stretches from front to rear legs. While I see them gliding from tree to tree, as well as to the feeder, I do not have the equipment or expertise to capture their sudden and unannounced flights.

So here is the best I can do, with an unusual gathering of three squirrels on the feeder. The undersides of the body and membranes are white, visible in the side views. Their long whiskers should be visible in the larger photo.

Canon 7D, 70-200mm f/4L lens at 200mm and f/5.6, manual exposure at 1/60th and ISO 400, pop-up flash, polarizing filter to reduce glare on the feeder, tripod. Considerable brightening necessary on the underexposed image, and slight increase in saturation to bring out the natural brown color.

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on August 11, 2012 at 1:16 PM

Hi David,

I am sorry, but I have to bring to your attention that images of wildlife that is baited is not allowed in the Wildlife Gallery. Th eposting Guidelines read as follows:
'Wildlife Gallery (formerly Fauna) - Wildlife other than birds. Images of captive animals or staged, set-up, and studio shots must be stated as such. Images that include domesticated animals should be posted in the Man & Nature Gallery. Photos of baited wildlife are prohibited. Note - the ethics of baiting should not be discussed in this gallery, only in the Hot Topics forum!'
I will move this to M&N.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by David Thomas on August 11, 2012 at 5:25 PM

Thanks for the explanation, and I really agree. I did not consider this baiting, since our purpose never was to attract flying squirrels and it was entirely their doing to find this food source. We are here mainly in the summer and they are year-round residents.

If this photo does not belong in NPN at all, it can be removed completely with no objection on my part.

Dave Thomas, Leeburg, Virignia

Registered on June 21, 2010, 30 Posts, 178 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on August 16, 2012 at 8:14 AM

Neat photo! Always been fond of flying squirrels, but have never seen a wild one. Agree this is the proper gallery for this photo. There are flying squirrels outside of North America, just not this species. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by David Thomas on August 16, 2012 at 12:58 PM

John -- Thanks for the comments. I agree; I meant only that this species of flying squirrel is native to North America. In Australia many years ago I saw "dusky gliders" (at least that is my recollection of the local name), also nocturnal.

Conventional wisdom is that if you have gray squirrels in the eastern US, you probably have flying squirrels even if you do not know it. I found this in northern Virginia a few years ago, where I discovered one in a vacant bird nesting box. It showed up several times but I have not seen any since then. I got a decent photo sequence in the daytime as it fled (moving really fast!) after I asked my wife to tap the box..

Dave Thomas, Leesburg, Virginia

Registered on June 21, 2010, 30 Posts, 178 Comments