I love this job! I get to play with critters that most folks only get to see on the Nature Channel.

Lady called about noises in her attic. I set my camera up there and saw squirrels. LOTS of squirrels. But my cameras infrared light was too bright and the pictures were mostly washed out with light. I could tell they were squirrels but didn't know what kind until I caught the first ones. In one weeks time I pulled out 16 flying squirrels.

Well, being as how they are on the endangered list here, I didn't rightly know what to do with them. Euthanizing them was out of the question. Can't turn them loose in the lady's yard cause they'd be back in the attic before I could get out of the drive way. Can't turn them loose at my house cause the house where I caught them is no more than maybe a half mile through the woods. They'd be back there before dark. Excluding them would just lock them outside in the cold to freeze to death. Poison is out of the question. So would be turning loose a cat. What to do?

Okay.... It's obvious what I need to do. Gather the whole family group and hold them till the weather breaks and then relocate them as a group. That will be their best chance at survival. So, for now they are residing in a large bird cage on my coffee table.



But I'll have to admit, "They's some cute little boogers!".



And when you're trying to put one more in a cage that's already got 12 or 14 in it, you're bound to have an escapee.



But, they ain't overly smart when you get right down to it. I recaptured that runaway in the same trap that caught him the first time.



Ever played "Peek a Boo" with a squirrel?



They are a hoot! They've added lot of fun to this house and I'm sure when the time comes, we'll be sad to see them go. But, seeing as how I'm the one that gets stuck cleaning out the nasty cage,... I'm sure I'll get over it!

They are very interesting critters and I find them often in homes here in the triangle area. What you have Muddawg are Southern Flying Squirrels...unless I'm mistaken. They are not endangered like the Northern Flying Squirrels, which I think are more towards the far western part of the state. What areas do you cover? I may be able to send some work your way.

Hoping you checked your regs on flyers. We can't keep ANY wildlife more than 24 hours in Illinois.

Batman,

You just taught me something. I didn't know there was two different breeds here. These just looked like the ones that were on my endangered poster I use for the cub scouts. I just figured they were all the same.

I'm in Wayne County. Goldsboro, Dudley and Mount Olive.

How far away are you?

Work is slow coming in here, but it's picking up some. Folks around here are just learning that they have somebody they can call with these kinds of things. More work would be great! Eventually, I hope to get out of plumbing and do this full time.

Thanks for any thing you can send me.

Yes there friendly buggers very cool bit smelly thou . They will need a box with a hole because they like the dark or just put the box let them make the hole

The one would of looked sweet sitting in the bass's mouth! Love the eyes!

If you start running a high fever get to the doc quick and be sure to tell him about those fliers. Their fleas are vectors for murine typhus. Probably ninety percent of US doctors will never see typhus in their careers and will misdiagnose you unless you tell them to look for typhus. You have about 14 days before any symptoms show.

Hey David, thanks for that tip. Are these fleas on any other squirrels? Do us northern folk have to worry about them as well. ( I'm hoping that all the fleas freeze to death since our weather is well below normal )

WTG MD. petaphiles, are you paying attention?

Paul, not that I'm aware of, host specific if memory serves. I learned all that working a job in Eastpoint, GA where two office workers go sick, the first nearly died from being misdiagnosed. The case study should be on the CDC website. A real eye opener for me. Not sure how far north but I do recall one case study from WV. Also, apparently it's not a common occurrence either since the case studies I researched appeared to be several years apart.

Here you go.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3033063/#R5

btw I was wrong it is sylvatic typhus not murine.

I sell flyers to taxidermists, just an idea.