Flying Squirrels

Southern Flying Squirrel
(I took this photo)

Our good friends Mike and Cathy woke at 3am this past November to frantic scratching and scrambling sounds in their walls, right behind their heads. They're back. Teeny tiny big-eyed flying squirrels live in the woods that surround their home and on the mountain that clambers up behind them. Occasionally, these little nocturnal cuties get in their attic and into their walls. Seeking warmth? Perhaps a little companionship? Not being a flying squirrel expert and never having seen one personally, until now of course, I head to the World Wide Web. There's a website just about...you guessed it...flying squirrels! Link through and amuse yourself with the data and high cute factor should you so choose this wintry day. The photos of baby flying squirrels are so cute! (...there's that word again..."cute.")

Cathy calls the next morning to tell me about their long night rescuing these wee furry beasties, telling me they plan to release them elsewhere in the forest. I couldn't go along so Mike drove them by for me to see. Lots of "awwww!" and "ohhhh!" and "how cute!!!!" drifted along the breezes of our driveway as the family gathered to see them.


Mike sent me the release photos later. He said they are so fast it was hard to release them and then get a decent picture but he forwarded a few of the best to me to share with my blogging buddies.

He told me this guy hung around a little and chattered at him from above. He would circle around the tree trying to get a better photo but the squirrel would circle around as well. It was a Circle Game for which the squirrel was much better adapted.

Mike bade his farewells to these adorable rodents and trudged home.....only to implement Operation Flying Squirrel Rescue several more times before the winter cold set in. He's gotta find and fix that hole they've discovered before spring! All release photos compliments of my friend, Mike Kearney.

I'll be at the lake today through Sunday and may not be able to post in the interim. The Weather Service is predicting SNOW tonight and tomorrow and us Southerners do NOT "do" snow. That means hot toddies with my mom as we catch up, some movie watching and naturally some vino. The new Timberlands are packed so who knows? Maybe a road trip will ensue and I'll actually see the white pelicans this time!!! My buddy Carroll said the Cormorant migration went through yesterday on Wheeler Lake. If you've ever witnessed it you'll never forget it. For HOURS long v-lines of cormorants skim above the waves from the west, heading eastward for some reason. The black swath of bird bodies flying quickly and with such purpose is an amazing sight. Dang it - I missed it this year.

I'll see you guys on the flip side.