Southern flying squirrels don’t actually fly. They glide on loose folds of skin stretched between their wrists and ankles, launching from old woodpecker holes and tree cavities in forests like those at Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Wayne National Forest. Because they’re strictly nocturnal, most people who share a yard with them never know it, which helps explain why Ohio’s 289 records don’t show the sharp seasonal swings seen in day-active species.
Records show up in every month with no single peak, which fits an animal that stays active year-round and often dens communally with other flying squirrels through the cold months rather than hibernating. Ohio’s NatureServe rank sits at SNR, unranked, meaning the state hasn’t assigned it a formal conservation status either way.
