Flying Squirrels in the South

I used to trap them and have them for pets. Pretty easy to tame. They would ride in my front pocket to school and stay all day. They are nocturnal, which is a problem when the cage is in your room.

They are nocturnal, so most people don't see them.

If you know what they sound like though (a little squeak/whistle sound), you will recognize when they are around more often.

quote:

---

"I'd rather have a daughter in a whore house than a son at Ole Miss"

---

Most of my buddies up there either farmed or guided hunts.

Anyway, in Oxford we had a nest of them that lived in our chimney (loud as hell) and would fly out every evening. Watching them glide down 20ft and stick to the trunk of a pecan tree was cool, we'd sit out there with an ice chest and pellet gun and take bets.

In-flight only. No Chimney shots. No tree shots.

Been in SE LA 28 yrs and didn’t know they were here until the cat killed three of them about a year ago. Hated that she did that.

Realized she did it at night and looked up that they were nocturnal.
Definitely going to find their sound on the internet.

Reminds me of my favorite joke of all time...

A guy walks into a bar. Now this just wasn't just any bar, it was one of those bars on the top floor of a skyscraper that rotated around. The guy walks up to the bar and the bartender and asks the guy, "Hey man, what would you like."

The guy replies, "Yeah, I'd like one of them flying squirrels."

The bartender responded, "No, no, no. I'm sorry sir, but we've had a lot of problems with that drink in this bar and I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to order something else."

Well, the patron didn't like that answer and got pretty indigent. "Look, that's my favorite drink in the whole world dadgummit, and there's no reason you can't make it for me."

He went on and on until the bartender final relented. "Ok, buddy. I'll make you a flying squirrel, but I'm not going to be responsible for the consequences."

So he mixed the drink up and handed it to the guy. He pounded it down in one big swig, shook his head a few times, shouted WOOO! ran around the bar 3 times and straight out the plate glass window!

Everyone in the bar looked on in amazement and the bar tender just stood there shaking his head.

About 3 mins later, the guy comes walking back in and says, "Hey, bartender, that was great! I think I'll have another!"

To which he replied, "Look buddy. I didn't want to make you the first one, but you showed your @$$. Please, just order something else."

Just like before the guy went off, "That's my favorite drink and I proved I could handle it. You'd better make me another one..." and on and on like that until the bartender gave in again. So he mixed him up another one.

"Look, I didn't want to make you the first one, and you got lucky with that. And I didn't want to make you this one, so what ever happens, I'm not responsible, OK?"

"Sure, whatever, just give me the drink" And again, like before, he drank it down, shook his head, WOOO! ran around the bar and out the plate glass window. Again, everyone there was shocked.

There was a guy sitting right there that had watched this whole thing go down. He looked at the bar tender and say, "He buddy, what's in one of those flying squirrels?"

The bar tender say, "A little of this and a little of that, but please don't ask me to make you one. I didn't want to make that guy one, but he was a jerk, so I did. You're drinking beer man, just stick with that. In fact, I'll buy you another one."

The guy said, "I dunno, any drink that will make a grown man fall 13 stories and come in and want to do it again, I think I've gotta try that."

The bartender said, "Ok, I'll make you one, but I won't be responsible for what happens."

So he mixes the drink and hands it to the guy. He drinks it down. Shakes his head. He shouts WOOOO! And just like before out the plate glass window. Down 13 stories. SMACK. Flat as a pancake on the pavement.

The bartender looks out the window and shakes his head.

He picks up the phone and dials. "911? Yeah, this is Chuck down at the Skyscraper bar. Yeah, got another one for ya. Yeah, flying squirrel. Yeah, Superman's down here messing with the drunks again...."

quote:

---

Am I the only one who didn't know until recently that we have these in the wild down south?

---

they're all over the place by my house in Albany. We would find babies all the time when we were younger after a storm came through. My powpow has a tree that must have 10 of them in it. They come down at dusk at start feeding in his squirrel feeder.

I live on a wooded lot on the shore of an east Texas lake. I put up several bluebird nesting boxes a couple years ago and now every one of them houses flying squirrels. In the summer it is not uncommon for them to stick their heads out of the entry holes when it gets hot in the evening. And I saw one get chased off a tree by a flicker during daylight hours. It jumped off the tree and glided to one of the bluebird boxes and was chased all the way by the woodpecker. I've also seen them glide by at night so yes I am aware there are flying squirrels in Texas.

And when I was a kid living in southwest Louisiana, I trapped a number of them out of a large oak tree in the back yard. After housing them in a large bird cage for a while, I released all of them.

I had one in the box I hunted yesterday afternoon

So randomly I read this thread today and listened to what they sound like on YouTube, went outside earlier and heard one in my back yard and think two in my front yard. Good stuff