Maine holds just 21 records for the southern flying squirrel, most of them from iNaturalist photos of animals visiting bird feeders after dark. Records this sparse reflect how rarely anyone spots a nocturnal glider, not how uncommon the animal truly is.
Near the northern edge of its range
Maine sits close to the northern limit of the southern flying squirrel’s range, where it can overlap with its larger cousin, the northern flying squirrel, in the same mixed conifer-hardwood stands. That overlap is part of why Maine records stay thin: two similar-looking gliders share the North Woods and western mountain forest, and only a clear look or a trapped animal tells them apart.
A glider that needs old, hollow trees
This squirrel nests in old woodpecker holes and other tree cavities, then glides between trunks on a fold of skin stretched between its legs. It forages at night for nuts, seeds, fungi, insects, and bird eggs, and in the coldest months several squirrels may pack into one den to share body heat. Losing older, cavity-bearing trees removes the dens this species depends on, whether that stand sits in the North Woods, the western mountains, or the mixed forest around Acadia.
Status in Maine
NatureServe ranks the southern flying squirrel SU, unrankable, meaning there isn’t enough data to assign it a security status in Maine. It’s native to the state, and its scattered records trace the mixed conifer-hardwood forest it shares with the northern flying squirrel near the edge of its range.
