Five Endangered Northern Flying Squirrels Recorded on Grandfather’s Daniel Boone Scout Trail

Surveys were conducted this month to count the number of Northern flying squirrels, a North Carolina endangered species, at Grandfather Mountain. The Mountain teamed up with a non-game biologist from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to locate and record sightings of the nocturnal animal.

Forty squirrel boxes were checked on the Daniel Boone Scout Trail for the animals. The Northern flying squirrel is on the state’s endangered species list. A total of five squirrels were found in the boxes on the Scout Trail. Grandfather Mountain Naturalist Jesse Pope reported this as positive information.

“Finding five is good and we are even more excited because one of the females found might have been pregnant,” said Pope.

Grandfather Mountain has 165 squirrel boxes total. The others are found on the Profile and in-park trails.

To do the survey, an extension ladder was taken on the trail. The ladder was laid against the tree and the person climbing up to the box placed a small net over the opening. Next the person tapped on the box and if a squirrel was inside it came out of the box and into the net.

The squirrels that were found were weighed, had their back feet measured and were tagged. The tags will let researchers on future surveys know if the squirrel has been found and recorded previously.

The Northern flying squirrel has thick light brown or cinnamon fur on its upper body and is grayish-white underneath. A fury membrane extending between the squirrel’s front and rear legs is what allows the animal to glide through the air.

Grandfather Mountain is located in the most southern part of the squirrels’ range. This is why surveying the population on Grandfather is so important. A decrease in numbers would be a red flag that perhaps the animal’s range is getting smaller.

The Southern Flying Squirrel is very commonly found in this area and is a third smaller in size than the Northern variation. That is why measuring the back foot of the squirrels found on the trail let researchers know which flying squirrel they had found.

Surveys of Northern Flying Squirrels on Grandfather Mountain have been going on for more than 10 years. The records from these trips are allowing the NC Wildlife Resources Commission to have a better understanding of a population estimate for the animal in Western North Carolina.

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