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Flying Squirrel Cam   "Bear-hugging".
 Photos by John C in Dickerson, MD 2002/2003

Bear-hugging || Stretching || Looking || Grooming || External || Cam setup || Woodpecker attack

Giving a quadruple bear-hug About: All of these photos were taken from a remote location. They were triggered using automatic motion-detection and some were triggered manually. 2 infrared wired cameras with infrared L.E.D. lights delivered the photos. One camera is inside box #2 and the other is just outside of it. Vision GS BE web cam software was used to enable these cameras to work through a computer. Being infrared allows it to "see" at night. The infrared light apparently can't be seen until it is processed by the camera system.

ABOVE/LEFT: Giving a quadruple bear-hug. Sometimes they all fall back down from their combined weight like a bunch of circus clowns. This "group hugging" is said to be a form of play used to establish a pecking order. The goal might be to be the one at the top. It occurs less when it is later in the winter season. This hugging is NOT mating. That usually only occurs with pairs much later in the night or when a pair is alone. They seem to pull down the smaller (younger?) squirrels that try to exit before the night is dark enough: in January, 6-6:30pm or earlier if cloudy skies. They don't leave the nest box in the daylight. If the growing shell/dropping piles they leave behind are close to the nest, they can eventually spill into the nest. This could cause them to abandon the nest. (new camera)




Photo of 11 squirrels in nest! LEFT: Photo of 11 squirrels in nest! None are intentionally hugging. If more were in the box, then they must have been hidden. I compared this photo with others just before and after it and I'm SURE that a minimum of 11 were in there. There are 3 of them in the top of the box (foreground) in this photo but I couldn't tell until the next photo when one of them climbed into the nest. The red indicators mark each one. (new camera)




A triple bear-hug while one squirrel waits in the entrance A triple bear-hug while one squirrel waits in the entrance. All of them left between 5:30 and 6 PM that snowy night. (new camera)




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Created: 12/24/2002, Updated: 3/15/2003.