eggs and nestlings, however, there is no evidence of this behavior.[5] When alder and birchcatkins are plentiful, the squirrel may store them for the winter in old woodpecker holes or similar nooks.[citation needed]
Siberian flying squirrel in the forest
Reproduction
They mate early in the spring. In southern
beard lichen
) into which the squirrel burrows. They can live up to about five years.
Habitat
Feces of Siberian flying squirrel.
They favor old forests with a mix of
nocturnal, being most active late in the evening, although females with young may also feed during the day. They do not hibernate
, but in the winter they may sometimes sleep continuously for several days. As shy and nocturnal animals, they are seldom seen. The most common sign of their presence is their droppings, which resemble orange-yellow rice grains and are often found beneath or on top of their nest.
In Estonia, the Siberian flying squirrel is depicted on the logo of the Estonian Nature Fund.[9]
Threats
The Siberian flying squirrel photographed in Klaukkala, Finland, at night in 2006.
In Finland and especially the Baltic states, the Siberian flying squirrel has been at risk potentially becoming an endangered species. P. volans is already
extirpated from Lithuania. Since 1996, it was also considered extinct in Belarus, until being spotted again in 2017, with more than 80 habitats subsequently discovered in far northern regions of the country in 2019.[10] Acts that are believed to be contributors to the decrease in the population size are habitat fragmentation, climate, and habitat loss in places they reside like boreal forests and old-spruce-dominated forests.[11] Because Finland is a member of the European Union, the squirrel is under the protection of the EU's 1992 Habitats Directive. The EU, Finland and Estonia have responded with a six-year, 8.9 million euro project to help protect the squirrel.[12]
