Washington’s 426 northern flying squirrel records reach across 29 counties, from Thurston, Pierce, and King in the Puget Sound lowlands to Okanogan and Stevens along the Canadian border. The named places tell the habitat story: Mount Rainier National Park leads, with the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth, Buckhorn, and Mount Baker wilderness areas close behind.
A glider of tall, closed forest
The flying squirrel does not fly; it glides on a furred membrane stretched between its legs, steering between trunks on nights too dark for most eyes to follow. It nests in tree cavities and old woodpecker holes, feeds heavily on fungi, lichens, and nuts, and depends on the snags and closed canopy of mature conifer forest, which is why Washington’s record concentrates in national parks and wilderness rather than logged or open ground.
Busiest on autumn nights
Flying squirrels stay active all winter, even under deep snow, but Washington counts build through summer to an October crest and sag to their lowest in April. Autumn is when young of the year leave their natal trees and wander in search of their own cavities, the season when a night-active animal is most likely to cross a road, a porch light, or a camper’s flashlight.
Status in Washington
NatureServe ranks the northern flying squirrel S4, Apparently Secure, in Washington, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
