Happy Squirrel Appreciation Day

January 21st is Squirrel Appreciation Day. Those adorable spastic little critters deserve a day. They are responsible for creating so many forests around the world - with every nut they forget about until a tree grows over their hiding spot and now they can't get to the nut. For this Squirrel Appreciation Day I chose to spotlight the biofluorescencing Flying Squirrels. Because it's crazy awesome that they even do it. And they have for at least 100 years based on pelts from the three species in North America.

They don't even look like it's the same critter with & without UV lights. To go from so simple to something so flamboyant and eye catching.

They way the pinks and oranges and blues overtake their usual brown look. They look as though they belong in a fairytale, cartoon, or alien planet. As fascinating as this fact is, it's also a little unsettling to look at for too long. It's like the brain knows they're real while simultaneously believing you are full of ........

I know that in their natural environment they probably wouldn't have many opportunities to be bathed in such intense UV lighting that really shows it off. It's probably something more like a brief flash that would probably confuse something watching/hunting it. Its either advantageous in some way; confusing predators, recognizing other flying squirrels, choosing a mate, allowing other aircraft see them when flying, or attending raves. But since it's not a newly developed trait that only a few individuals have, it's so common of a characteristic that it's the norm, and it is prevalent in three closely related species; it almost certainly serves an active function and contributes towards survival and/or reproduction.

But then it could also simply be a fluke trait that serves no function at all, it just happened to randomly show up on the friskiest squirrels and now it's everywhere and does nothing. It could be a neat side effect, it doesn't have a function but it exists because of the molecular makeup of their fur. Since it came about before the three species split and without evidence of any drop in popularity, from an evolution standpoint it's not just a waste of energy.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/flying-squirrels-glow-fluorescent-pink-under-ultraviolet-light-180971397/