Southern flying squirrels are nocturnal gliders that need mature forest with hollow trees for denning, so they show up on records far less often than daytime squirrels people notice by chance. Big Thicket National Preserve sits squarely in the piney-hardwood habitat this species needs, where a mix of oak, pine, and standing dead wood supplies both den cavities and open canopy to glide across. Balcones Canyonlands and Big Bend anchor records farther west, closer to the edge of the species’ Texas range, where isolated stands of trees still hold pockets of it.
Texas reports cluster hard in January and February, then fall off through summer before climbing again toward December, the opposite of the usual daytime-mammal pattern. That likely reflects nocturnal spotlighting and bare winter canopy making glides easier to spot, not a true winter high in numbers. With 394 records, the species reaches the 73rd percentile among ranked Texas mammals, and NatureServe carries it as S4, Apparently Secure statewide.
