Known to biologists as Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus, the West Virginia northern flying squirrel is a small, nocturnal creature covered with soft, dense, silky fur. They are brownish on top and grayish beneath.

Individual squirrels are about a foot long, half of which is their broad, flat tail, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They weigh less than five ounces.

Flying squirrels can't really fly. Instead, they glide in the air on a parachute created when they stretch all four legs and pull the loose folds of skin between their fore and hind legs taut.

Unlike other squirrels, West Virginia northern flying squirrels remain active in the winter. They eat lichen and fungi growing above and below ground, instead of nuts.

They are thought to live in small groups and share common nests. They communicate with high-pitched chirps. Females are thought to have one litter of up to four young each year. The life span is about four years.

Extensive logging between the 1880s and the 1940s destroyed much of the squirrel's high-altitude, old-growth spruce forest habitat.

Earlier this week, the Interior Department removed the squirrel from the Endangered Species Act, but outside scientists say the squirrel is still threatened, and wildlife advocates plan to challenge the delisting in court.

Individual squirrels are about a foot long, half of which is their broad, flat tail, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They weigh less than five ounces.

Flying squirrels can't really fly. Instead, they glide in the air on a parachute created when they stretch all four legs and pull the loose folds of skin between their fore and hind legs taut.

Unlike other squirrels, West Virginia northern flying squirrels remain active in the winter. They eat lichen and fungi growing above and below ground, instead of nuts.

They are thought to live in small groups and share common nests. They communicate with high-pitched chirps. Females are thought to have one litter of up to four young each year. The life span is about four years.

Extensive logging between the 1880s and the 1940s destroyed much of the squirrel's high-altitude, old-growth spruce forest habitat.

Earlier this week, the Interior Department removed the squirrel from the Endangered Species Act, but outside scientists say the squirrel is still threatened, and wildlife advocates plan to challenge the delisting in court.