Washington’s 87 northern flying squirrel records reach across 18 counties, from King, Kitsap, and Thurston in the Puget Sound lowlands to Okanogan and Stevens along the Canadian border. Only a handful fall in named places: two each on state resource lands managed by the Washington DNR and in the San Juan Islands National Monument, and one each in the Buckhorn Wilderness and the Okanogan National Forest.
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.
Busiest on autumn nights
Flying squirrels stay active all winter, even under deep snow, but Washington counts build through summer to a September crest and sag to their lowest from February through 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
