What Do Flying Squirrels Eat?
Sarah Silva 
Learn What Flying Squirrels Eat
As you can guess by their name, flying squirrels are the type of rodents that can fly. However, they don’t actually fly like other birds of their size. Rather, they are better known as “gliding animals” jumping from one tree to another with their parachute-like membrane.
This is how they are distinct in appearance from ground squirrels. Because flying squirrels are nocturnal, they can search for food at night. Flying squirrels are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders. This is why they have a voracious feeding that consists of a variety of animals, birds, fruits, and more. To find out, “What do flying squirrels eat?” we’ll explore their diet related to their eating habits.
Insects and Animals
Flying squirrels are quick to forage food around the surroundings because of their locomotion—gliding ability. This allows them to glide through trees, covering the distance in less time for capturing more food. It’s no surprise that flying squirrels eat at night. And because they inhabit trees, flying squirrels eat birds and bird eggs.
They can easily reach the nest of those birds and feed on their young to supplement their diet. These gliding animals aren’t purely insectivores, but they forage on various insects. Depending on the type, various flying squirrels eat insects, cicadas, and other bugs.
As for their occasional diet, flying squirrels eat meat, eggs, and mice. These can be great treats for flying squirrels if you are keeping them as your pocket pets. Although they rarely visit the bird feeders, flying squirrels eat from hummingbird feeders.
Fruit and Vegetables
A part of their diet consists of fruit and vegetables growing in their surrounding trees. This particular feeding habit of flying squirrels is similar to ground squirrels.
Hence, flying squirrels can eat blueberries, bananas, and bread as well. Together with these, flying squirrels eat fruit, apples, grapes, and bananas. They also consume a variety of plant-based diets that include vegetables as well.
Flying squirrels eat acorns, tomatoes, mushrooms, corn, and nuts. As for those who keep flying squirrels as their pocket pets, they can feed them a diverse diet. Hence, flying squirrels eat bird seed, safflower seeds, grape jelly, suet, nuts, and peanuts.
What do flying squirrels eat in the wild?
Flying squirrels consume a diverse diet in the wild, foraging by gliding from one tree to another. Hence, flying squirrels eat bugs, berries, eggs of birds, nuts, and fruit in the wild.
What do flying squirrels eat in the winter?
Flying squirrels store their food in their small bird houses located in the trees. This helps them to consume stored food in wintertime. Typically, flying squirrels eat mushrooms, fruits, acorns, wild cherry pits, and nuts in the winter.
What do flying squirrels eat in captivity?
Keeping flying squirrels as your pets would require you to feed them a variety of diets. Flying squirrels eat nuts, pecans, corn, sweet potatoes, peanuts, walnuts, and more.
What flying squirrels don’t eat?
While they have a varied diet that they enjoy consuming throughout the year, they exclude some of it. If you’re wondering about keeping them next to babies, then you should know that flying squirrels don’t eat their babies. And, of course, they don’t feed on large animals. Therefore, flying squirrels don’t eat deer.
