Flying squirrels

Very cool. I've been trying to figure out how to base jump off Mt Whitney. I love the hike up, and the views are fantastic, but my knees can't handle the hike down anymore. At 4400+m the air isn't thick enough to get away from the wall, this might be enough.
 
I can't speak for squirrels, but our local volplaning mammals (Sugar Glider, Squirrel Glider, Yellow-bellied Glider, Greater Glider, Mahogony Glider, and Feathertail Glider, if I remember correctly) have very similar aerodynamic properties, and indeed look much like your flying squirrels - once again, we see the Bank Clerk Rule in action: i.e., if you spend 20 million years working behind a counter in a bank, you will wind up looking like a bank clerk.

They are pretty damn smart and can volplane for surprisingly long distances, but they do make mistakes - not so surprising when you remember tha they are strictly nocturnal and no-one has yet fitted them with battery-powered landing lights - and from time to time they have a disaster. For example, it's not unknown for a glider to miss its intended landing spot by a foot or so and skewer itself on a protruding stick.
 
For some time my sister had a few sugar gliders and a cat as pets. At first I was concerned, but those little suckers could so easily evade the cats that they eventually gave up. The sugar gliders were so light that they would fly across the room, land on your shoulder, and you wouldn't notice the touchdown.
 
For example, it's not unknown for a glider to miss its intended landing spot by a foot or so and skewer itself on a protruding stick.
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[tagalog] Malungkot [/tagalog] (sad)

Especially if you think of them as cute, gentle creatures. That's an end you won't want to happen to anyone.
 
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