Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 10 · column 1 of 3 · from the scan, no model involved
Squirrels
From Page B1
in the wild. Predators are numerous and include owls, hawks, snakes, raccoons, foxes and domestic cats.
Like many squirrel species, flying squirrels are gregarious and frequently share nests. In the northern species, groups are usually made up of a few family members. But in the southern species, nest groups of unrelated animals form in the fall and enlarge during the winter to include dozens of individuals, sometimes as many as 25 or more. This spectacular group behavior is assumed to help keep these tiny animals warm in the winter.
The southern species typically breeds twice, in late winter and during midsummer. After mating females establish and aggressively defend nesting territories until young are bom. Babies are naked, deaf, and blind, and the gliding membrane is visible only as a transparent fold of skin. They become furry and active in a month and are fully weaned at nine weeks. They can begin gliding from the nest at twelve weeks.
Males do no parenting at all, but females are devoted parents and seldom leave the young squirrels during their development. They will defend them from predators and move them to new nests if disturbed.
Night gliders
Since they don’t actually fly, the aerial agility of these animals is truly amazing. They can steer around branches or tree trunks, using the tail as a rudder and varying the tension on the gliding membrane to control direction and speed. And remember, they do all of this at night!
In many areas, flying squirrels greatly outnumber the more familiar grey squirrels, but it’s hard to get a sense of this since we rarely see them. If you want to see some this winter, try putting out bird seed on raised feeding platforms at night and then listen for their high-pitched calls. By illuminating the platform suddenly, you can get a glimpse of these fast-moving, furry creatures flying in suddenly out of the darkness. When we see them theyie always in groups, dozens of them chirping nervously. Each squirrel stays at the feeder only a short time and then blasts off again.
Just like Rocky!
92.2%