This time, I was able to see the mother and baby flying squirrels in the nest (the baby flying squirrel didn't fly). The first time, I was able to watch two flying squirrels fly. My favorite was the life-sized flying squirrel stuffed animal. The first part of the tour is lecture-style, but it didn't seem to bore the children I took the tour with since there were a lot of flying squirrel paraphernalia passed around. This is why I think it's better for children over 6. I was impressed because they were able to wait patiently for about 20 minutes for the flying squirrel to come out. This time, there were 8 other people in the tour, of which 4 were young children. This is the second time I've been on the tour. During the second part of the tour, I went outside to observe the flying squirrel inside of its nest through a monitor, then watched the flying squirrel fly (glide) out of its nest. I learned a lot about flying squirrel behavior and characteristics in the first part of the tour. They're actually much bigger than sugar gliders and other flying squirrels. I was really happy to have seen Japanese giant flying squirrels. Pros-After sunset, friendly staff, rare experience Cons- It's difficult for younger children to be patient when waiting for the flying squirrel to come out of its nest. I went there on from about 6:00-7:30 pm as part of a school activity. This review is about Picchio's flying squirrel tour. This was a really special opportunity to see an amazing and unusual wild animal doing what comes naturally to it and gliding from tree to tree! I thoroughly recommend it for all interested in unusual wildlife. The guides were kind and helpful throughout and were careful over safety issues. Certificates as having seen them are provided and a photo opportunity for children and families with the life sized soft toy musasabi were provided. July and August are the main visitor months. Information is available at the Hoshino Wild Bird Forest Centre (Hoshino yacho no mori) and it is important to book as the event gets full! The cost for adults is 3300yen and 2500yen for Primary School age children. The times will vary as the times of sunset vary through the year. The whole event therefore started at 18.15, we were at the boxes by 19.10 and the Squirrels had gone by 19.30 or so. They had glided off for their nightly feed about 10 minutes later. The Squirrel departed from the box about 10 minutes after we arrived at the base of the tree and we had seen the remote camera images of the waking Squirrels. The animals were illuminated in the nearly dark by the guides red light torch so that the animals could be seen clearly but were not disturbed. The other went off in a different direction but the glide was clear to see. On the second night the two adults came out separately and one climbed and glided to a near by tree by gliding low over our heads. On the first night the mother Giant squirrel did three climbs and glides before disappearing. We all saw the animals leave the box and climb to the top of the tree and then leap off and glide off into the forest. The Giant squirrels wake up and leave the box at about 30 minutes after sunset which they duly did. On the first night they took us to a box with a mother musasabi and young babies and on the second night to a box with two adult musasabi in. These have cameras in so that what is happing inside the box is visible for all to see on the laptop carried by the guide. The Giant Squirrels (Musasabi in Japanese) spend the day asleep in nest boxes. The group was very good at keeping to these guide lines making for a very pleasant evening. The etiquette for watching was carefully explained - no flash, no torches, no pointing, keep quiet and keep behind the guide. Binoculars and umbrellas are provided for those that need them.
It is done in Japanese but there are big pictures to illustrate the main ideas so this is not really a problem. It is entirely suitable for young children as well as adults. This is done in a very entertaining way using a life size soft toy version and the enthusiasm of the guides was very evident. The event starts at about 18.15 with an explanation of what Giant Squirrels are, what they feed on and other general facts. I went on this event two nights running - August 2nd and 3rd 2015.
0 kommentar(er)
