Beware the flying squirrel

[peternap]

http://news.oldva.org/?p=141


Beware the flying squirrel

I saw this on the wire today:

Associated Press - August 25, 2008 10:15 AM ET

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The West Virginia northern flying squirrel is leaving the federal endangered species list.

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced Monday the squirrels have recovered from the brink of extinction, while conservation efforts have helped their habitat regenerate.

Once known as the Virginia northern flying squirrel, the animal depends upon the forest ecosystem in the Allegheny highlands of West Virginia and Virginia.

The species was first listed as endangered in 1985, when only 10 squirrels were located in four areas.

Human disturbance and competition with the more common southern flying squirrel threatened their existence.

The final rule announcing the delisting will be published Tuesday in the Federal Register and take effect in 30 days.

That reminded of an incident in the early 70's.

Before we were married, mt wife to be and I were in the George Washington National Forest. I had spent 80% of my life in these mountains and thought I knew everything about the animals there. I was wrong. I had underestimated the innocent looking flying squirrel (Southern variety).

The area we were in was full of flying squirrels and if you've never seen one, they're very tame. They'll scoot down a tree and just look at you with those big brown eyes.

Anyway...the future Mrs. Said "It's so cute! I'd love to pet one." Being the experienced hunter I was, I reached over and snatched one off the tree. Things got interesting fast. That beautiful, harmless creature, bit completely through my finger. So there I was, standing with a flying squirrel, gushing blood and pretending like nothing at all was wrong.

She looked a little shocked, but petted it on the head, which was perfectly safe since I had complete control of the teeth.

My next question was, "Do you want to see it fly?" She said she would.
I took my cue and tossed it in the air where it caught hold of a tree, climbed up, and glided away as if nothing happened.

If there is a morale to this story, it is';

No matter how well you know the woods...BEWARE THE FLYING SQUIRREL.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Editorial, The Great Outdoors, Blogroll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Edit this entry.

[glenn kangiser]

Squirrel music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM7a2Zrj3dU

Full screen to maximize your viewing pleasure. 

[peternap]

Squirrel music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM7a2Zrj3dU

Full screen to maximize your viewing pleasure. 

[glenn kangiser]

One of my favorites.