Flying Squirrel Question
Editor’s note: I’m bumping this back to the top of the page in hopes of getting an answer.
We have over the past month or two removed eight flying squirrels from our attic. I use a have-a-heart trap with popcorn and or meat in it. When captured I leave them about three miles away in a forest. It’s after Thanksgiving. Will they survive alone? Will they come back? We live in Hollis Center, Maine Please send answers by email or reply in the comment section below.
If you move any wild animal it’s a crap shoot whether or not they survive. Most animals live in a pretty tiny niche with little wriggle room if it is a stable population. If it’s a population that has been hit with a disaster, like a failed cone crop or a contagious disease and it is recovering, there may be more room for outsiders. That said, all animals are very adaptable. A plus for flying squirrels is that they tend to be gregarious so they may share nesting spots, but they don’t store food, so eating may be a problem.
There are a few solutions to this problem:
1. Make your house and building squirrel proof, and put up little boxes for the critters.
2. Get an apartment in downtown Portland and let your landlord handle the critters.
3 Keep doing what you’re doing, but remember that there will be fatalities. Remember that f. squirrels are not rare. Something rare, like a least weasel, treat differently.
January 21, 2011 at 9:37 am
At one time we had both flying squirrels and a milk snake in our attic! All are gone now so I imagine the snake took care of the squirrels and moved on……
February 5, 2011 at 8:14 am