Sugar Gliders - Native to MN?

[mindgame]

I just arrived home after a trip to a friends cabin in northern minnesota (Brainerd area for those who know mn). Every night I witnessed something odd that I had a quick question about? Every night a family of sugar gliders would come down onto the deck to eat out of a bird feeder. They were incredibly tame and would allow you to get within a foot of them and they looked like similar animals that I have seen in captivity except alightly larger and fluffier. Also I saw them glide down from the very tip top of trees to the ground or another tree multiple times over three different nights so im sure of what i saw. SO i know these animals are not native to minnesota and was under the impression they wold not be able to survive in the sub zero temps we are currently having. What was I seeing? Could these be captives that we released and survived? The owner of the cabin said they had seen them before in previous years but never in this number or as frequently.

 

[fish keeper]

Is it possible they were flying squirrels? Oh and 100th post!

 

[mindgame]

I thought sugar gliders and flying squirrels were the same thing

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

no they are different. you saw a sp of flying squirrel.

 

[Mavrick813]

I thought sugar gliders and flying squirrels were the same thing

Not by a long shot

Glider

I'd put my money that it's a northern Flying Squirrel.

Mike

Flying Squirrel

 

[mindgame]

Ya i just did some googleing and found this if anyone is interested http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Glaucomys_sabrinus.html
I guess flying squirrels are native to mn. Its funny I have lived here my entire life and never knew they lived here. Gotta love learning something new everyday haha

 

[mindgame]

Ya thats definitely what I saw. They were really interresting animals. Very cool to watch.

 

[Mavrick813]

Yeah I fought off an impulse buy on a family of 6 gliders in a custom enclosure. Thank God I did though because I got home and did some heavy reading and realized that I didn't have the time or dedication to adequately care for them.

Mike

 

[coura]

Sugar gliders are marsupials just like koalas and wombats, the closest thing in US is the virginia possum. The resemblence between gliders and flying squirels is a great example of covergent evolution

 

[LRM]

In New England for example, there are typically more southern flying squirrels per acre than there are gray squirrels. The reason most people never see them though is because they're nocturnal and so secretive. I never saw my first one until our cat brought one in when I was 18.