Virginia’s occurrence data for the southern flying squirrel comes entirely from GBIF specimen and survey records. Not one of the state’s 231 entries is an iNaturalist photo, which tracks with a species that only comes out after dark.
Gliding through two different forests
This squirrel needs connected canopy to glide from tree to tree, and Virginia’s confirmed spots turn up in very different settings that both supply it: the mountain hardwood forest of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, spanning the Blue Ridge and Appalachian ridges of western Virginia, and the mature bottomland woods of Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge, a Potomac River peninsula close to the Chesapeake Bay. Both hold what the squirrel actually needs, tall trees with cavities to den in, and closed canopy to glide between them without touching the ground.
A nighttime habit that hides the numbers
Because the squirrel only forages after dark, Virginia’s records lean almost entirely on trapping, nest-box checks, and specimen data rather than daytime sightings, which is likely why GBIF carries every one of the state’s entries and iNaturalist carries none. The squirrel doesn’t migrate or den up for winter, so records run at a fairly even pace across the year, with a modest rise in midsummer.
Status in Virginia
NatureServe ranks the southern flying squirrel S5, secure, and it’s native to Virginia.
