Lost all four baby flyers

[lovesquirrels1]

Today is a very sad day. I found all four baby flyers dead. The mother had been caring for them but my partner took them out of the nest box for photos while I was at work (we left them alone the first 4 weeks before). I feared something bad would happen when I learned of it, but figured the mother would probably readjust. I noticed that night she stayed out of the nest box where usually she is rarely seen during nesting. The same behavior the next night. Then today I checked the box and found them dead.

[Shellysfriend]

I’m very sorry for your loss. Thank you very much for sharing so other curious minds know not to make the same mistake. I had a flyer show up late this winter/early spring on my deck camera. Started leaving some nuts for him/her on the deck railing. They were fun to watch. Then out of nowhere had a raccoon come up and find the nuts. Never had much Coon come around before that. Then they started attacking the nest boxes. Not good. I’m not sure if it’s something you’re interested in doing but I put doorbell cameras in some of my nest boxes so I could watch them without disturbing them. Also figured if mom ran into trouble I would know to intervene. Fair warning it can be addicting to keep tabs on them! Thanks again for sharing.