Pink squirrels? Flying squirrels in NC capable of ‘glowing pink,’ experts say

Bigfoot is apparently not the craziest thing you might find in North Carolina’s backwoods.

On Wednesday, a state project revealed an odd fact about flying squirrels in North Carolina.

“Just another boring rodent, right?” said a post on the NC Candid Critters Facebook page. “Not unless you think that glowing pink is boring!”

“All species of flying squirrel in North American have been found to fluoresce pink under ultraviolet light.”

Candid Critters page posted an example showing one squirrel’s belly glowing pink under ultraviolet light.

Details of the condition were released on a Facebook site devoted to a camera trap initiative spread across the state’s heavily forested areas.

The program has also become known for posting surprising images of invasive species, and a few creatures caught in the dark that couldn’t easily be identified.

Candid Critters’ mission is to uncover little known details about the distribution of mammals in the state. Partners include NC State University, NC Museum of Natural Sciences, NC Wildlife Resources Commission.

This story was originally published February 6, 2019 at 5:51 PM.