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Flying Squirrel

It was January, 2012 and 8.00 PM.
Hodgson's Flying Squirrel licking something on Asphalt road.
I was on my way to Gelephu from Bumthang. I was pretty tired driving nearly 280 kilometers in the geography of never ending winding and narrow roads of country, Beautiful Bhutan, the safe heaven for diverse flora and fauna. I have also lost incredible elevation while driving from Bumthang to Gelephu. Bumthang is at an elevation of approximately 2800 meters and Gelephu at 300 meters above sea level, whenever one passes through such a diverse ecological zones within short period of time, it is natural to feel excited experiencing the sudden shift in the environment and biodiversity.

Before it disappeared in the dark
After driving for nearly 9 hours my back started not to cooperate with me, making me to rest and drive diverting nearly fifty percent of my attention to my back pain. I crossed a place called Jigmechholing (600 mtrs) still complaining and not happy with my back pain. It was at then that I noticed something moving on the road. At first I thought it may be a dog, but on a closer look, it was an amazing animal I have never seen or never bothered to look at it. It was licking something from the road. It was Hodgson's Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista magnificus). I was so excited that I spent nearly four minutes taking the picture of this magnificent mammal before it crawled to the left side of the road and disappeared in the dark. It was such an exciting moment that I forgot I had a back pain for the rest of my journey.
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Comments

rawat said…
sir i have seen this specie at 700 feet above sea level at pangot, nainital, uttarakhand, india...at around 11:30 pm..also saw him flying unbelievingly from one tree to another
April 25, 2012 at 10:17 AM
Unknown said…
Great to know your encounter with this magnificent animal.
I was not as fortunate as you to see them flying, but I would love to see the same.
Thanks for dropping by my blog.
May 8, 2012 at 3:27 PM
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