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When most people think about flying squirrels, they probably picture one or two tiny squirrels quietly moving around an attic at night. At Frontline Animal Removal, that is often what we see. Flying squirrels are small, nocturnal animals, and even when they are living inside a house, they can be surprisingly difficult to detect.
But every once in a while, we get a flying squirrel job that reminds us just how many of these little animals can live together.
This August, Ryan has one of those jobs.
He catches approximately 20 flying squirrels from one house in a single night.
That is an unusually large catch for the summertime. In fact, Ryan points out in the video that we normally catch only one or two flying squirrels at a time during the warmer months. Large groups are much more commonly associated with winter, when flying squirrels aggregate together for warmth.
But this job shows us something important: large flying squirrel aggregations can occasionally occur during the warm months as well.
Flying Squirrels Usually Get More Social in Winter
The southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) is well known for its habit of gathering with other flying squirrels during the colder months.
This behavior makes good biological sense. Flying squirrels are very small mammals, and maintaining body temperature requires energy. During winter, sharing a nest with other squirrels provides a significant thermoregulatory benefit.
Research published in the Journal of Mammalogy examines the role of kinship in southern flying squirrel winter aggregations. The study finds that southern flying squirrels commonly aggregate during winter and that related animals are more likely to associate with one another.
The important point for our purposes is that this research focuses specifically on winter aggregations.
That makes sense because one of the major advantages of getting together during winter is conserving heat.
So what is going on when Ryan catches around 20 flying squirrels from one house in August?
Apparently, Winter Isn’t the Only Time They Group Up
This is where our real-world experience becomes interesting.
We don’t want to overstate what this particular job tells us. The scientific literature clearly establishes winter aggregation as an important behavior in southern flying squirrels, particularly because of the benefits of sharing warmth. It does not necessarily mean that a group of 20 flying squirrels living together in August is doing so for the same reason.
Instead, this August job gives us a good example of something that we occasionally see in the field: flying squirrels can aggregate in surprisingly large numbers even when it is warm outside.
We actually wrote about this unusual summertime behavior in our July article, “Summertime Flying Squirrel Removal? Yes, It Happens.”
That article describes another summertime flying squirrel removal. That job is unusual because most flying squirrel calls occur during the colder part of the year.
Now we have another summer job—and this time the number is dramatically larger.
Twenty flying squirrels.
Why Would So Many Flying Squirrels Stay Together in Summer?
We can make some reasonable observations, but we don’t want to pretend we know exactly what is going through a flying squirrel’s mind.
Our best guess is that the squirrels have found a really good place to live.
A building can provide many of the things wildlife is looking for: protection from predators, a secure nesting location, relatively stable temperatures, and easy access to the surrounding habitat.
If the property also has mature trees and plenty of natural food available nearby, the location becomes even more attractive.
In other words, the squirrels may not need a winter-style thermoregulation benefit to make an aggregation worthwhile. They may simply have found a safe, protected location with good habitat surrounding it.
And once a suitable nesting location is discovered, it is easy to imagine more than one flying squirrel taking advantage of it.
The important thing is that we see it happen.
Flying Squirrels Are Different From Other Squirrels
Flying squirrels are also somewhat different from the gray, red, and fox squirrels that we commonly remove from homes.
For one thing, they are exceptionally small. Their size allows them to take advantage of openings that larger squirrels cannot use.
They are also nocturnal. Homeowners may never actually see the animals entering or leaving the structure because the squirrels are most active after dark.
And, of course, they don’t actually fly.
They glide.
A flap of skin called a patagium stretches between their front and rear legs. When a flying squirrel launches from a tree or structure, it can spread this membrane and glide to another location.
That ability makes the surrounding landscape important. Trees near a house can provide excellent travel routes for flying squirrels, allowing them to move between the property and the surrounding forest without spending much time on the ground.
How Flying Squirrel Removal Works
Removing flying squirrels from a home begins with finding out how they are getting inside.
This is particularly important with flying squirrels because their small size means that an entry point can be surprisingly difficult to identify. Damaged screens, gaps around vents, openings at soffits, construction gaps, and other small defects can provide access.
At Frontline Animal Removal, we don’t want to simply put a baited trap somewhere in the yard and hope that the squirrels eventually find it.
Instead, the goal is to identify the actual entry point and use that information to control the removal.
Trapping and exclusion need to work together. The squirrels have to be removed, but the opening they are using also needs to be addressed so that they cannot simply return.
This is particularly important when dealing with a group.
If there are 20 squirrels inside a house, catching five or ten of them isn’t a successful removal. The remaining animals can continue using the structure, and the problem simply continues.
That is why we monitor the situation and make sure the animals are out before completing the permanent repair.
Twenty Flying Squirrels Is a Lot of Squirrels
Ryan’s video really puts this job into perspective.
As he shows the catch, he points out that there are “around 20” flying squirrels in the cage, and that they all come from the same house at the same time. He also points out how unusual this is for summertime, since the larger catches are something we normally associate with winter.
That is a lot of flying squirrels from one house.
It is also a great reminder that wildlife doesn’t always follow the schedule we expect.
We generally expect flying squirrel problems to become more common as temperatures drop. We expect the animals to move into protected structures and group together for the winter. Those patterns are real and well documented.
But nature isn’t a calendar.
Sometimes a group finds a particularly good place to live during the summer, and apparently, 20 flying squirrels decide that they like it.
Flying Squirrel Removal in Akron, Canton and Kent Ohio
Flying squirrels are fascinating animals, and seeing one outdoors is certainly different from discovering a group living inside your home.
If you hear scratching, running, or other unexplained nighttime noises coming from an attic, ceiling, or wall, flying squirrels are one possibility. Their small size and nocturnal habits mean that homeowners may hear them long before they ever see one.
At Frontline Animal Removal, we handle flying squirrel removal and the associated exclusion and repair work throughout the Canton, Akron, and Kent area, including Stark, Summit, and Portage Counties.
Our goal is not simply to catch the animals. We want to determine how they get inside, remove the animals that are present, and repair the opening that allowed them access in the first place.
And after catching 20 flying squirrels from one house in August, we’re reminded once again that summertime flying squirrel problems may be unusual—but they definitely happen.