by Elizabeth Trickey
Do squirrels fly? Some would say no, while others would say yes. The nay-sayers would point out that they don’t even have wings that flap. They can’t take off from the ground like a bird or airplane, move upwards in the air, nor stay aloft indefinitely. No feathers, either. They are mammals, and besides the bat, no other mammals fly. OK, they are right about those things. Minor details!
Here in Ontario, we have both the Northern and Southern Flying Squirrels, also known as “Glaucomys sabrinus” and “Glaucomys volans” to the science geeks!
At Procyon, we rarely get the opportunity to rehab these species. This winter, we were excited to receive two of the Southern variety, and, surprisingly enough, they were brought to us separately, two weeks apart, and from different areas. What’s the chance of that?
The first flyer to be admitted was a female, which was named Tinkerbell. She appeared to have been hit by a car, and was in need of medical treatment. The male was found on someone’s porch, cold and lethargic, somehow separated from his colony. He is yet to be named.