Pixel and friends

April of 2009 I had a contest to name our resident flying squirrel and she ended up with the name Pixel. She's a darling, you can see photos of her on that post.  Well Pixel and her babies have been very busy.  Here we are a little over a year later and every night I feed my fliers and I have a count of at least 6 coming to visit.

You can set your clock by them. They come at 9:15 every night, it's so fun watching them fly in! I was surprised when we had a cook out that lasted until about 11pm and they still came. People were able to get within a few feet of them and watch them.

While my parents visited we sat out every night to watch them. Over time we have worked up to being able to use a flash on them. We replaced our yellow bug bulb with a white one. Later we brought out a big shop light, like a flood light and still they came. And now we can put the flash on the camera and freeze them in action.

Now that we've got a few decent shots I'm back to just feeding and watching them. Every night I feed them seeds and some sort of fruit. I've found that they do not like cantaloupe. lol  They are the busiest in the yard right at dusk, but they are still here throughout the night.  I've been out as late as 1am and seen/heard them.  Come on over, they're more fun to watch than tv.


Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

The Flying Squirrels

First, let me explain that the reason the photo is so dark, is that it was taken at night. That's when my flying squirrel friends come out to play so that's the only time I could catch one. Watching their acrobatics delights anyone who sees them! They are adorable! I wish I could jump from tree to tree with them and that my only worries were finding the next meal and landing properly.

~ You can see the explanation behind this project by going here or see the all posts in this category by going here. ~

My blueberry!

We have at least 4 of them zipping and dashing in our yard. I guess that's why I need to keep putting feed out, lol. We were absolutely amazed that they still came to eat while all of our guests were here on Saturday. As we sat around the fire, they would zip over our heads and when someone walked to a tree to get a closer look they stayed still.

I was sitting about 6 feet from this one while he nibbled away. I chatted on the phone and my husband came out and went back in and still he stayed. He was there about 15 minutes. There are some nights I go back out to refill the feeder for them and one will sit about a foot up the tree and watch me. I love that they let me get so close to them!

The Flying Squirrel has a name

I promised Jelly Bellies to the person who chose the name for my newest friend. We have a winner, comment 31 - Tim suggested, “I would call him Pixel” Tim doesn’t have a blog to link to, but I have emailed him.

Please meet Pixel. An appropriate name for a boy or a girl, and for a petite flying squirrel. And something simple to call him/her while (s)he hangs out with us for a while.

Last Friday, we had our hottest day so far, even broke a record for hottest at 86 degrees. Poor Pixel was very hot since the trees do not yet have leaves and the sun was beating down on the bird house.

I felt so bad that I ran the sprinkle below the house trying to help cool the air. But the heat made her stay this way for much of the day. This is how I found out that we’ll be having babies and Pixel is a girl.

I don’t how long Pixel will be with us, so lets enjoy her while we can. I look forward to seeing babies!

Wanna win some Jelly Bellies?

For the last few weeks I have been wondering who put the stuffing in this birdhouse. I never saw any creature coming or going and it may have been there all winter unnoticed because I didn't really even look at it until the snow started melting and I wondered if I'd be lucky enough to have a guest this spring.

Then, Saturday afternoon, I guess the neighborhood was noisy enough that this little guest popped his head out.

Who is this? Let's get closer.

After I got close enough to realize that this is my little flying squirrel friend (spotted last October on my suet), I slowly backed away, went into the garage and did the happy dance like I had just won a million dollars. My husband looked at me like I had lost my mind. So I stopped jumping and wiggling, breathed deeply and softly told him that a flying squirrel had moved into the birdhouse. I also told him that I was so excited and thrilled (like he couldn't tell) and maybe there'd be babies and on and on, then I started jumping again.

This man really loves me, he gave me that smile that you give to excited children when you're pretty puzzled by their joy but are just happy to be away from their tears. And he did not take me to the mental institute so I feel pretty loved.

I think he likes me. :) I was about 5 feet from him here. Here's where the contest comes in. He (or she) needs a name. Did I mention how excited I am?  I hope there's babies, which I suppose would mean that there's more than one.  But I'm just so happy to be able to get a photo of him.   I hope to catch him out eating, but he's nocturnal so that may not happen.  A girl can dream.

We recently discovered that Milwaukee has a Jelly Belly factory. So, leave your suggestions of a name for the little fellow and I will choose one and deliver some Wisconsin Jelly Bellies to the person who suggested the name. In the event a name comes up more than once I'll go with the first person who suggested it. You can leave as many comments/names as you want between now and next Monday noon. I'll announce the winner, and the winning name, next Tuesday.

Boy? Girl? What do you think we should call him?