Minnesota’s records for the southern flying squirrel add up to only 191, well below the counts logged for the state’s more visible tree squirrels. Nearly all come from wooded river corridors around the Twin Cities, and that thin, concentrated pattern has as much to do with a nocturnal glider being hard to detect as with where the species actually lives.
Near the edge of its range, and near a look-alike
Minnesota sits close to the northwestern edge of the southern flying squirrel’s range, and it’s one of the few states where this species overlaps with its larger relative, the northern flying squirrel. The southern species holds to the mature hardwood forest of the southern and central part of the state, the kind of cavity-rich woods along the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, while the northern flying squirrel takes over in the boreal conifer forest farther northeast.
A glider that needs old, hollow trees
This squirrel nests in cavities left by woodpeckers or natural decay, and in a Minnesota winter, several individuals will often pack into one hollow tree together, sharing body heat overnight. That habit, combined with strictly nocturnal habits and a silent glide instead of a scurry, makes it one of the harder animals in the state to document, regardless of how many are actually out there.
Status in Minnesota
The southern flying squirrel is native to Minnesota. NatureServe lists it SNR here, unranked at the state level, though it carries a secure G5 rank globally.
