Wildlife Watch V

There we were last night, sitting in the living room each minding our own business when I looked up to see one of the bird feeders swinging wildly.  My first thought was, "Boy, it is windy out there."  Then as the bird feeder swung around to show the other side I saw what looked like a squirrel or chipmunk.  Its face seemed different and it was not the same color as the others we occasionally see around (and thankfully it's only occasionally as we still haven't gotten over our distaste of squirrels from living in squirrel-infested SE Portland where they were at times actively chewing on our house).

This is the comic book hero maneuver it used to escape into the night, narrowly avoiding Eric's villainous clutches.
[photo source: http://www.dianshu119.com/index.php?doc-view-603.html]

I notified Eric who turned to look, but by this time its face was hidden and by "hidden" I mean "buried in the birdseed."  Eventually the feeder swung around again so the invader was out of view, so Eric went out to try to get a better look.  He gingerly poked the feeder so it would swing around and we both got a fleeting look at the creature then it flew off the feeder and into the night. 

[image source: http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=105]

When Eric came back in, I said "I think it was a flying squirrel!"  Then, I looked it up on the state Field Guides site and sure enough, we live in their range and it looked like the photos I found.  We had no idea there were flying squirrels here!  Or that they were nocturnal bird feeder invaders.  Maybe we need to leave the porch lights on more often.