Finnish Wildlife Photographer Finally Gets Footage of the Elusive Siberian Flying Squirrel in its Natural Habitat

Wildlife photography enthusiast are stoked! The Siberian flying squirrel is an “Old World” (aka Pteromys, which is a genus of rodents in the family Sciuridae) flying squirrel with a range from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Coast in the east. It is the only species of flying squirrel found in Europe and it's technically a rodent—but a friggin' cute one, that's for sure. 

It's not easy to capture the life of a Siberian flying squirrel, but this TikToker and professional wildlife photographer Ossi Saarinen did it!

He went out into the woods specifically in search of this little guy. He had low expectations due to the known elusiveness of the animal, but started having more hope when he found some of its droppings on a tree. When he saw that, he set up his equipment and wait to almost dark. It almost looked like maybe he was waiting for hours in vain, but eventually the moment every wildlife photographer lives for, the animal showed itself and gave the camera some amazing shots. 

When he set out to find this squirrel, he wasn't expecting to find an entire family. So the moment a baby popped their head out from inside the tree and then a SECOND one came out?? Simply heaven for any wildlife photographer—or anyone who loves cute babies animals in general, really. Though similar looking to your basic squirrel you see in anyones backyard or dog chasing at a park, these guys are somehow a 1,000x cuter. They look as if a baby squirrel just stayed looking like a baby even into adulthood. A forever baby squirrel kind of look. Though they look adorable and helpless, they've obviously got things handle—especially in the incognito department. 

The lil mama nibbles on a leaf with zero knowledge of the wildlife geek freaking out just below her home in the trees. Though many commenters from Finland say they've seen these guys often in the country side, they still say it's rare to see them in action. Either way, TikTokers are loving the rare animal cute baby content, and you're a monster if you don't.  

"Have you ever seen a flying squirrel?"