Come with me to learn about this flying squirrel
Flying squirrel _ true to its name is a mammal of the squirrel family but has the ability to "fly" from 45m - 150m in just a few seconds. With a habitat mainly in forests, "flying" from treetop to treetop will help them avoid danger from predators on the ground.
Japanese flying squirrel
The "flying" action of flying squirrels, unlike birds, is to flap their wings to create propulsion, in fact they only glide for a limited distance using a membrane of feathers connecting from the wrist to the ankle. called "paragliding array". When they jump from a tree branch, this membrane will be expanded making their body turn into a square carpet, acting like an airplane wing to help them easily glide in the air.
The "flying" action of flying squirrels, unlike birds, is to flap their wings to create propulsion, in fact they only glide for a limited distance using a membrane of feathers connecting from the wrist to the ankle. called "paragliding array". When they jump from a tree branch, this membrane will be expanded making their body turn into a square carpet, acting like an airplane wing to help them easily glide in the air.
To facilitate navigation, the flying squirrel's body also has a special piece of cartilage, which is not found in any other mammal. This cartilage extending from the wrist supports the "paraglider array" and helps them navigate their flight path.
Flying squirrels are really a talented pilot when they can easily turn around just by lowering one arm, and can even rotate 180 degrees in the air to avoid a surprise attack from predators. also know how to fly like an owl. If you wonder how they can land safely, the answer is that the hand and foot movement in the opposite direction combined with strong legs, thick padded feet will help them land gently. They also use a long and ruffled tail as a brake lever, just flip the tail up to be able to "brake" safely.
Geographical scope
There are about 50 different species of flying squirrels distributed throughout North America to Central America, from Southeast Asia to North Asia, and in Siberia and Scandinavia.
Their homes are usually holes made by woodpeckers, abandoned bird nests or tree stumps in the woods.
Appearance and food
In addition to the "paraglider array", flying squirrels have the exact same appearance as their ground squirrel brothers with small round faces, pointed ears, long ruffled tails and large round eyes that help mammals eat. This night easily adapts to the dark.
Northern flying squirrel
Depending on the species, their fur will have different colors and characteristics.
Pakistani Fleece Flying Squirrel
The body size of flying squirrels also varies depending on the species. For example, the Pakistani woolly flying squirrel is the largest gliding mammal with a body weight of up to 2.5 kg. The smallest species is the dwarf flying squirrel Hose of Borneo weighing only 85g.
Dwarf flying squirrel Hose
Because of their distribution in many different geographical areas, their eating habits have many differences depending on the food source in each area. In the United States, northern flying squirrels have a varied diet that includes insects, seeds, nuts and fungi, while in the south their staple foods are eggs and carcasses. On the other hand, the Indochinese flying squirrel, found in China and Southeast Asia, prefers to eat only fruit grown by humans.
Reproduction
Most flying squirrels have only one mating cycle per year, but a few like the Japanese dwarf flying squirrel come to mate twice a year. The time of mating, pregnancy and child care also depends on the characteristics of each species. Even many species of flying squirrels are quite "promiscuous" when both males and females have many different mates.
Two species of North American and Central American flying squirrels, the young at birth are usually blind, hairless and cannot live without the care of their parents, while the young of other species are almost fully developed and hardy. cable from birth. Or as mothers in the North will wean their babies after about 2 months of age, while for black flying squirrel mothers in Southeast Asia, it is 4 months.
Usually only mothers take on the responsibility of raising children. And despite being a solitary species, in winter members of the same family still move in together to keep warm.
Conserve
More than half of the species of flying squirrels, such as North American and Central American flying squirrels, Japanese flying squirrels, etc. have fairly stable numbers of individuals. Because their natural habitat is difficult to access, very little research and data on them have been collected.
Another Japanese flying squirrel
Some other species, such as the smoke-flying squirrel in Southeast Asia, have decreased in numbers mainly due to habitat loss due to human agricultural and mining activities. Hunting and trapping are also threats that put the giant flying squirrels of Bhutan and the northern flying squirrels of China at risk.
Bhutan Giant Flying Squirrel
Especially the Northern flying squirrel, Pennsylvania is in danger of extinction due to habitat loss and scarcity of food sources. The strong growth of disease-causing insects has led to the depletion of fungi that are their main food source.
