Distinguishing Features – Soft, silky pelage. Overall colouration, pale olive-brown; lighter buff-coloured underparts; tail flattened ventrally and densely haired; eyes large and luminous; skin membrane extends along flanks between wrists and ankles.
Habitat
Inhabits boreal coniferous forests of Scandinavia, Russia, Siberia and as far east as Northern Mongolia, Central and North-eastern China. Prefers dense forests. Tends to dwell in trees along rivers; lives usually in hollows.
Diet
The main food of the flying squirrel is the leaves of deciduous trees in summer, and the catkins of birch and alder supplemented with the buds in winter; also seeds, berries, mushrooms, and buds of coniferous trees.
Notes
The Russian flying squirrel is nocturnal; it nests and roosts in daytime in tree cavities and dreys. They make long nocturnal trips to forage and return to the nest before sunrise.