Where Do Flying Squirrels Live? Range, Nests and Your Attic

Flying squirrels are common across most of North America and almost never seen, because they are strictly nocturnal. Habitat, nest sites and attic signs.

By Zakaria September 21, 2026 4 min read Save to Pinterest

A southern flying squirrel on tree bark at night, its large dark eye catching the light — Photo: Ken Thomas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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They are in most wooded neighbourhoods in North America, often in greater numbers than grey squirrels — and almost nobody sees one, because they only come out after full dark.

The short answer

Flying squirrels live across most wooded parts of North America: the southern flying squirrel in deciduous and mixed woodland through the eastern US from Maine to Florida and west to Minnesota and Texas, and the northern flying squirrel in the conifer and mixed forests of Canada, the northern states, the Appalachians and the west coast. Both need mature trees with cavities and both are common in wooded suburbs. They are strictly nocturnal, which is why they are rarely seen despite being abundant. They nest in tree cavities, readily use nest boxes, and are colonial in winter — an attic occupation is usually several animals, not one.

Most of wooded North America, including wooded suburbs
Strictly nocturnal — the whole reason you have not seen one
Tree cavities, old woodpecker holes, nest boxes, attics
Colonial in winter — a dozen or more in one cavity
They glide, not fly. 20–50 ft typically, using a wrist-to-ankle membrane

The two species

Southern and northern

	Southern (Glaucomys volans)	Northern (Glaucomys sabrinus)
Range	Eastern US, Maine to Florida, west to MN and TX	Canada, northern US, Appalachians, west coast
Habitat	Deciduous and mixed woodland	Conifer and mixed forest
Size	2–3 oz, 8–10 in with tail	4–6 oz, 10–12 in
Belly fur	White to the base	Grey at the base
Diet	Nuts, seeds, fungi, insects, eggs	Lichen and fungi especially
Sociability	Very social in winter	Social, less densely

A third species, Humboldt’s flying squirrel, was separated from the northern in 2017 and occupies the Pacific coastal forests.

What they need

Mature trees with cavities — old woodpecker holes, rot hollows, natural cavities. This is the limiting factor almost everywhere
Closed canopy, so they can glide tree to tree without crossing open ground
Mixed hardwoods producing nuts, and dead standing timber, which is why tidy woodland management removes them
Water nearby
Darkness. Heavily lit areas are used far less

Wooded suburbs with mature oaks and hickories suit them very well, which is why they turn up in attics in neighbourhoods that look entirely domesticated.

Why you have never seen one

Against the squirrels you do see

	Flying squirrel	Grey squirrel
Active	Strictly nocturnal	Daytime
Size	2–6 oz	14–21 oz
Eyes	Very large, dark	Moderate
Movement	Glides between trees	Runs and leaps
Noise	Quiet, high chirps	Loud barking

How to actually see one

Put a red-filtered torch or a dim red light on a bird feeder or a nut feeder an hour or two after full dark, in autumn or winter, and watch from a window.

Red light disturbs them far less than white. In a wooded neighbourhood with oaks, the odds are good — and most people who try it are surprised how many turn up.

Nests

Tree cavities above all, especially old woodpecker holes
Nest boxes — including bird boxes, if the hole suits. A 1½ inch hole admits southern flying squirrels
Leaf nests in summer
Attics, soffits and wall voids where those are reachable
Several nests each, rotated between

Winter huddling is the striking behaviour. Southern flying squirrels pile into a single cavity in large numbers — a dozen or more is ordinary — because a two-ounce animal loses heat too fast to overwinter alone. They do not hibernate.

In an attic

Because of that huddling, an attic occupation is almost never one animal.

Signs, and how they differ from grey squirrels:

Noise starts at full dark, not dawn. This is the single best indicator
Lighter, faster scurrying, with rolling sounds — nuts moved across the ceiling
Small droppings, scattered rather than in latrines
Entry holes as small as an inch
Caches of nuts and seeds in insulation

Dealing with it:

Confirm the species by the timing before doing anything
Find every entry point — they are small, and there are usually several
One-way exclusion doors, which is the only humane and effective method for a colony
Then seal with metal flashing or half-inch hardware cloth
Cut branches back ten feet, remembering they glide — ten feet is a minimum, not a comfort
Autumn or spring, never mid-winter or peak breeding. Sealing a huddle in kills a dozen animals in your ceiling

Check your state rules before trapping

Flying squirrels are protected in several states, and northern flying squirrel subspecies in the Appalachians have been federally listed. Trapping or relocating may require a permit or be prohibited outright.

Exclusion is legal everywhere and works better anyway.

The gliding

The membrane is the patagium, stretching wrist to ankle on each side and turning the animal into a small controllable wing.

Typical glide: 20–50 feet. Recorded glides well over 150
The flattened tail works as rudder and airbrake
Steering is accurate enough to pick a specific trunk
They land head-up, flaring at the last moment, then scramble round to the far side of the trunk — out of the line of anything that followed them

Owls are the main predator — great horned and barred — along with snakes, raccoons and domestic cats. The commitment to darkness and cover is a direct response to that, and it is why they are so abundant and so invisible at once.

Common questions

Where do flying squirrels live?

Across most of the wooded parts of North America, far more widely than people realise. The southern flying squirrel occupies deciduous and mixed woodland through the eastern United States from Maine to Florida and west to Minnesota and Texas, while the northern flying squirrel takes the conifer and mixed forests of Canada, the northern states, and the mountain chains of the Appalachians and the west coast. Both need mature trees with cavities, and both are common in wooded suburbs — they are simply strictly nocturnal, which is why almost nobody sees them.

Why have I never seen a flying squirrel?

Because they are active only at night, and they are quiet. Grey and fox squirrels are diurnal and conspicuous, so people assume they are the only squirrels present, while flying squirrels emerge well after dark, glide between trees rather than running across open ground, and are small — a southern flying squirrel weighs about two to three ounces. In many wooded neighbourhoods there are more flying squirrels than grey squirrels, and the usual way people find out is a torch beam at a bird feeder after midnight.

Where do flying squirrels nest?

In tree cavities above all — old woodpecker holes, natural hollows and rot cavities in mature trees — and they readily use nest boxes, including bird boxes, if the hole size suits. They also build leaf nests in summer and they take over attics, soffits and wall voids where those are accessible. Southern flying squirrels are strikingly social in winter, and a single cavity may hold a dozen or more animals huddled together for warmth, which is why an attic occupation is rarely a single individual.

How do I know if I have flying squirrels in the attic?

The noise is the giveaway, and so is its timing — scurrying, rolling and soft thumping that starts at full dark rather than at dawn, which is when grey squirrels are active. The sounds are lighter and faster than a grey squirrel's, and there is often a distinctive sound of nuts being rolled across the ceiling. Look for a scatter of small droppings, chewed entry points as small as an inch, and caches of nuts and seeds. Because they are colonial in winter, expect several animals rather than one.

How long do flying squirrels live?

Typically about five years in the wild, with mortality heavy in the first year from owls, snakes, raccoons and domestic cats, though captive individuals have reached ten to fifteen. Great horned and barred owls are their main predator, which is part of why the species is so committed to darkness and cover. They breed once or twice a year depending on species and region, with litters of two to four, and the young are dependent for longer than a grey squirrel's.

Do flying squirrels actually fly?

They glide rather than fly, using a membrane called the patagium that stretches from wrist to ankle on each side and turns the animal into a small controllable wing. A typical glide covers twenty to fifty feet, with recorded glides of well over a hundred and fifty, and the flattened tail acts as a rudder and airbrake. They steer accurately enough to land on a chosen trunk, and they land head-up by flaring at the last moment before scrambling to the far side of the trunk out of a predator's line.

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