Trivia question for Oct-03-2011

Carter thought he saw one of these once but we could not be sure.  As he searched for his trivia, he came across this species and decided to feature them.  These guys feed at night, sailing through the air from treetop to treetop for nuts, seeds and even insects.

They store food, especially acorns, for winter consumption. They also dine on insects, buds, mushrooms, mycorrhizal fungi, carrion, bird eggs and nestlings and flowers. Predators include snakes, owls, hawks and raccoons. Domestic house cats can be dangerous to these animals. Although graceful in flight, they are particularly vulnerable on the ground.

So here are Carter’s questions:  Tell us what this animal is and tell us what their ‘wings’ are called?  Also, these guys glide at impressive speeds.  Tell us how many feet per minute they can glide?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations goes out to William Powell from Ludington, Michigan for being the first with the correct answer. We also want to thank our friends over at ‘One Good Turn’ for their guess but unfortunately the squirrel we featured is the Southern Flying Squirrel and not the Sugar Glider, you did get the question about their wings correct though.

The Southern Flying Squirrel is one of two species of the genus Glaucomys, the only flying squirrels found in North America (the other is the somewhat larger Northern Flying Squirrel G. sabrinus). It is found in deciduous and mixed woods in the eastern half of North America, from southeastern Canada, to Florida, USA. Disjunct populations of this species also have been recorded from the highlands of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.

The wings of these cool squirrels are called ‘Patagium’.  These guys are tremendous flyers and can cover up to 360-feet per minute while gliding through the air.  Here is more on these high flyers: Southern Flying Squirrel

Thanks for playing along 😉