UPDATE: Sometimes a squirrel is just a squirrel
May 13, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti A case of mistaken identity and misdirection that captivated Crossett Brook Middle School late this week was solved Saturday morning when a wayward flying squirrel was set free into the nearby forest.
The tiny furry creature emerged from a backpack on Thursday inside the school, touched off a ruckus until it was caught, and then was the focus of a mystery to find out where it belonged.
Mistaken for an exotic pet sugar glider – a common mix-up if you read up on these creatures – it wasn’t claimed by anyone after information was widely shared first to families, and then to the community on Front Porch Forum and in a Waterbury Roundabout story (scroll down to read the original post).
Luckily, Steve Hagenbuch in Waterbury Center is both a conservation biologist with Audubon Vermont and a Crossett Brook Middle School parent. Seeing the messages and the photos with the news story, he said he was pretty sure the creature was a squirrel.
“It’s an easy mistake to make,” he said. “They are similar in size, appearance, and they have that skin flap.”
Hagenbuch contacted Principal Tom Drake and they met at the school Saturday morning. He said there are two flying squirrel species found in Vermont. “I’m not entirely sure which one it was,” he noted. But seeing the animal in person confirmed his hunch.
The two along with Hagenbuch’s son, Grady, took the small visitor outside and across the brook on the school grounds to set it free. No, they didn’t take a photo.
In a Front Porch Forum post, Drake shared the follow-up news that the animal was indeed a “native-to-Vermont flying squirrel.” He thanked the many community members for their messages of interest and concern.
So, how did this happen?
“We all get squirrels in our houses sometimes in Vermont,” Hagenbuch said. Somehow, the critter got into the school. “They’re nocturnal. It found this backpack as a place to hide,” he surmised. “They’re cavity nesters – they like standing dead trees.”
Until someone went into the pack and disturbed it, touching off a chase before it was captured on Thursday. When they let it loose, it initially didn’t go very far, stopping by a dead log for a bit before scampering off into the woods. “It’ll have stories to tell its grandchildren someday,” Hagenbuch said with a laugh.
“That's a happier ending than having a South Pacific marsupial in the Northeast United States,” Drake wrote.
Following the story, Superintendent Mike Leichliter recalled last October's wildlife visit to Brookside Primary School: “Between Brookside’s moose last fall and now the squirrel at Crossett Brook, I suppose the first chapter of my HUUSD memoir could be titled ‘The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,’” he said.
ORIGINAL POST IS BELOW
Remember ‘Mary Had a Little …’ sugar glider?
May 12, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti It’s a squirrel? It’s chipmunk? No, it’s thought to be a sugar glider.
File this under “never a dull moment” in a middle school.
The tiny wayward flying squirrel mistaken for a sugar glider enjoys a snack in its temporary enclosure in the office at Crossett Brook Middle School. Photo by Meg Libby
Crossett Brook Middle School may be the home of the cougars but as of Thursday, it has a new – and hopefully temporary – mascot: a little exotic pet mammal called a sugar glider that appeared out of seemingly nowhere on Thursday.
When a staff aide went into their backpack, a small furry critter with a long bushy tail jumped out, startling everyone nearby.
A fair amount of pandemonium ensued that involved nets and boxes in an attempt to corral the tiny frightened creature, according to Meg Libby who works in the school’s main office. “It was all the rage,” Libby said. “It was quite comical.”
What exactly is a sugar glider? According to National Geographic, “sugar gliders are palm-size possums that can glide half the length of a soccer pitch in one trip.” While they may resemble rodents and are often compared to flying squirrels, they are a closer relative to marsupials like kangaroos and koalas.
They are nocturnal and native to tropical and cool-temperate forests in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. They manage to glide – easily as far as 150 feet or more – using “wings” that are formed by a thin skin stretching between their fifth forefinger and back ankle. They have bushy tails that act as a rudder to steer when they soar, according to the National Geographic description.
Sugar gliders have large, dark eyes that help them see in the dark and a combination of gray and white fur, often with stripes on their heads. They weigh about a quarter pound and adults can be close to a foot long from nose to tail.
Their name refers to the fact that they like to eat sweet foods such as fruit, sap and nectar and the soaring/gliding part, of course. PetMD says they are popular as pets, bond closely with their humans, and can live up to 15 years.
The visitor at Crossett Brook Middle School enjoys a snack in its temporary enclosure in the school office.
Before it was identified, some thought it was a squirrel or a chipmunk, Libby said, adding that the school has had calls from community members suggesting it may be a baby wild flying squirrel.
Eventually the furry visitor was caught by a school custodian and an empty aquarium was found and put into service to give it a safe enclosure.
Despite asking around, no one so far has owned up to claiming the creature as their pet that may have tagged along from home. Principal Tom Drake sent out an email to families on Thursday asking for help to reunite the visitor with its rightful family.
As of Friday, no luck. Drake then shared his message on Front Porch Forum with a link to information about the creatures and asking for help to be able to send the interloper home. “We are thinking that it snuck in via a backpack. I understand these are domestic pets, and we have this one safely in a cage in the office. If you are missing a Sugar Glider, please let me know!” he wrote.
Libby, who has owned sugar gliders of her own, guessed that the one currently in her office is a young male. She said they are very friendly. “They make great little pocket pets” – until one decides to come to school.
As it turns out, the middle school so far isn’t a bad place for the lost critter. In addition to there being a spare container for it, there happened to be the perfect food on hand too, Libby said. “They eat mealworms and fruit,” she said. The sustainability classroom was able to provide mealworms – they actually had live and dried ones for the school’s chickens – and the cafeteria staff shared some apples.
Libby said she will check on her new office pet over the weekend but hopes someone soon comes forward to say it’s theirs and they want it back.
Now that everyone knows about the furry visitor, there’s great interest in finding out where it came from, how it got to school, and if it will get home.
Libby agrees with Drake’s theory that it likely hitched a ride to school in a backpack. “They are domesticated animals that don’t do well in the cold,” she said, speculating that it likely didn’t just enter the building from outdoors on its own. Whomever carried it could have done so unknowingly, she guessed.
Anyone with information should contact CBMS Principal Tom Drake who will be keeping an eye on his email this weekend: tdrake@huusd.org.