I know, I know. Just because tweeters are all mammals don't make it a mammalogy site. And if my posts bug people, they don't make it an entomology site either. But David Hutchinson's post about Flying Squirrels brought back memories.



I've never seen a Flying Squirrel, but I did hear a "bunch" of em once, many moons ago.



That was on a trip to Mount Baker Hot Springs, in early spring. I was sort of attending college in Bellingham at the time, and some ne'er-do-well mountaineering buddies were in town visiting, when somebody came up with the idea of going "on a hike to the hot springs!". My friends probably. My buddies were real hunks, unlike me - what birders might call "chick magnet's. They got a van load full of folks and off we went. I'm kinda naive, but I think the whole expedition was a thinly veiled plot for people to get naked in the woods. Being a lonely twentysomething, that was just fine with me.



Anyway, we got up to the Hot Springs, which in the mid 70's was a filthy sulphurous mud hole, that nobody with a medical degree would willingly get into. But there was that whole naked thing going on, so....



We got there late, the air cold, snow on the ground. It got dark, and we all continued our mammal studies by lantern light, getting in and out of the warm mudhole, as needed, to keep from freezing. Nothing happened really.



But then, out of the dark, a squirrely call passed overhead! " Hey, that's a Flying Squirrel!" I excitedly pointed out to the group. Of course nobody cared too much. But I was thrilled! The squirrels, there were clearly several ( it was full dark by then), zoomed over unseen, calling as they went by - had that sort of doppler effect going on. It was a sustained sound show for the rest of the night in that snowy forest. Cool!



All these decades later I just can't visualize any of those naked bodies anymore, and God knows I've tried, but I remember those flying squirrels calling. I guess I really am a naturalist.



Jeff Gibson

Everett Wa