Notes on some habits, especially the eating method of leaves, of Pteromys volans amygdali in captivity

Abstract

General behavior and food habits of a Japanese flying squirrel, Pteromys volans amygdali (Thomas, 1906), were observed in captivity. Among them, the most interesting is the eating method of leaves and it is as follows: the flying squirrel cuts off about the middle of a petiole of Quercus acuta and holding the lamina with the front paws brings it to its mouth. It begins to eat the lamina from the bottom on the right side of the leaf, upwards to the top, then eats on the left side from top to bottom. Among 25.9 leaves cut off at the petiole in a day, 6.1 leaves are partly eaten and 3.6 leaves are left in perfect shape, in an average. When I give a branch of Tsuga diversifolia, it eats only the new leaves at the top.