They are so cute! Perhaps you can buy another bird box and set it up elsewhere. The flying squirrels are nocturnal unlike the gray ones. I've also had so much damage from gray squirrels. They have wrecked shrubs, cut off branches and ruined an arborvitae. One removed the entire grafted portion of a Japanese maple. Bulbs and plants were dug up . We have flying squirrels but have not had a problem with them.

PARROT heliconia MONKEYflower (Mimulus) SQUIRRELS tail (Justicia) LIZARDS tail (Saururus) SCORPIONS tail (Heliotropium) CRAB grass (as if anyone wants that, lol) PARTRIDGE berry (Mitchella) SALMON berry (Rubus) FISHTAIL palm FLAMINGO flower (Antherium) TURTLESHELL Dioscorea Black SNAKE root, White SNAKE root COBRA lily RABBITS FOOT clover MOUSE-EARED chickweed (comes usually without asking, lol) Forked Blue Curls or CAT curls DOGbane BEARberry DEARberry CROWberry BAT plant CARDINAL Vine (Ipomoea) SPIDER Plant SNAKE Plant (Sansaveria) SPIDERwort HORSE Nettle CARDINALflower (Lobelia) CatchFLY FLY Poison Plant

Lipwak, It could very well be a bear (cub - under 200lbs), we occasionally get them here in Rockland. The turkeys are doing well, add in the red tailed hawks, turkey vultures, osprey, horned owls, and eagles (crows are coming back from encephalitis outbreak); mammals you might not have seen include red/gray foxes, coyotes, opossums, skunks, and flying squirrels (yup - Rocky is here). If you want to have more fun, go up into Harriman State Park (get a map and a compass), follow some of the trails (preferably from an older map), you might see more than you get from your backyard). Critters I've listed are in my backyard, If you go the to park, be prepared to hike, for about 200 yards, after that, you'll probably see/hear much more, if you're quiet! Many other critters are there, you just have to be patient/quiet/part of the landscape. If serpentine creatures bother you, avoid Green Meadow Pond and Island Pond (special permit needed). Dad

Based on just the pose, it looks like an inchworm (geometrid moth caterpillar), but the photo is a little blurry. Is it spiky or furry? Is it big enough for its claws to scratch you or could the scratch have come from a trig it was sitting on when it fell that you inadvertently scratched yourself with? Can you get a better shot?