Most people in New York and New Jersey are familiar with the gray squirrels that leap through the trees in backyards and scamper after peanuts in park. Whether you disparage them as annoying, mischief-making “tree rats” or delight in their amazing aerial acrobatics, the bushy-tailed Eastern Gray Squirrel is well known to everyone who lives in New York City or northern New Jersey. But most people don’t realize that the gray squirrels they see during the daytime have a nighttime counterpart, the Southern Flying Squirrel.

Smaller than the 6- to 8-inch long gray squirrel, the Southern Flying Squirrel is tailless and has a furry, kite-like membrane that stretches along each side of its body from wrist to ankle. With no true wings, flying squirrels don’t actually fly like birds or bats; they glide between trees, shifting the position of their bodies to change direction. While most flights are considerably shorter, flying squirrels are capable of flights of up to nearly 300 feet, or about the length of a football field.

Because these animals are nocturnal, you may never see a flying squirrel; but they still pose a potential pest problem to NYC and NJ home and business owners if they decide to nest in your attic. Stern offers 24-hour emergency squirrel removal and squirrel control services for both flying squirrels and ground squirrels. This is squirrel nesting season; keep us on speed dial!