Connecticut’s open databases hold 160 records of the southern flying squirrel, split fairly evenly between iNaturalist and GBIF, a respectable tally for an animal that’s genuinely difficult to see.
Old trees along the shoreline preserves
This squirrel nests in cavities left by woodpeckers and old age, and needs mature hardwood stands to find enough of them. The older oak and hickory forest inside preserves like Hammonasset Beach State Park, Bluff Point State Park, and Barn Island Wildlife Management Area holds more of those cavity trees than younger, more disturbed Connecticut woodland, which is likely why records concentrate there.
A glider that visits yards unseen
Southern flying squirrels are strictly nocturnal, gliding between trees on a fold of skin stretched between their limbs rather than walking the ground the way Connecticut’s gray squirrels do. Many Connecticut households share a yard with the species without ever spotting it, since it forages and glides well after people are asleep, sometimes raiding a bird feeder in the dark and leaving before dawn. In cold weather, several animals often pack into one den cavity together to share body heat, a habit that can bring more than one squirrel into a single tree hole at once.
Status in Connecticut
NatureServe ranks the southern flying squirrel S5, secure, and it’s native throughout Connecticut, most reliably found in the older hardwood stands that still hold enough cavity trees for its dens.
