"Yes, please. Tell us," said Dawud.
"I was wondering why you have such a long tail," said
Bilal.
"First of all," the squirrel began: "I can go in
many directions up in the trees. For example,
with my sharp claws I can climb trees very eas-
ily. I can run along branches, swing upside-
down and even walk that way. My relatives and
I are called 'grey squirrels' and we can easily
jump from the top of one tree to another 15 feet
(4 meters) away. We jump into the air as if we
were flying; we then open our arms and legs and
glide in the air. We flatten our tails for balance
and use them as a rudder for direction."
Dawud said: "I read in a book that some
squirrels can fly. Do flying squirrels only need
long tails to fly?"
"Yes," answered the squirrel. "In Australia there
are some kinds of squirrels that can fly. They are between
20 and 35 inches (45 and 90 cm) long. They move from one tree
to another with long jumps. Instead of wings, they have a
33
