Have you seen these common but highly elusive animals around Georgia?

McDonald said that until he saw the videos, he “had no idea” that bobcats live in the heart of urbanized DeKalb. “The only other time I’ve seen a bobcat was when I had a fleeting glimpse of one on Cumberland Island,” said McDonald, an avid outdoorsman.

In fact, only a few other folks probably have ever seen a bobcat in the wild — even though the big cat (about three times larger than a house cat) is common all over Georgia. My only encounter with one happened years ago when I was tromping through some swampy woods in South Carolina and came upon a bobcat lying on a tree limb. When it saw me, it quickly scampered off.

The bobcat videos got me thinking about some other elusive wild creatures that are common in Georgia but are rarely seen. Two other such creatures that come to mind are the Southern flying squirrel and the mink. Like the bobcat, they also are widespread — even in metro Atlanta — and are native to the state, but my bet is that most folks have never seen one.

That’s because all three creatures are highly secretive, and are most active at night, dawn and dusk when they hunt for food. They have several strategies to stay undetected. Bobcats rely on silence and excellent camouflage. Mink, which dwell mostly next to water, can quickly dart out of sight. Flying squirrels tend to stay hidden and use quiet, nocturnal gliding to avoid notice.

Chances are good that a flying squirrel inhabits your backyard but you don’t know it. A Decatur homeowner told me that he was up late the other night and, from a window, saw a strange, small creature “with big eyes” on a platform bird feeder. When he tried to get a closer look, the little animal “just vanished from sight.”

It proved to be a flying squirrel, one of four squirrel species native to Georgia. The Decaturite said he had no clue that such a creature lived in his yard.

I’ve had two brief sightings of flying squirrels, but I’ve never seen one in flight, even though I suspect hearing them on my roof at night. They’re known for their ability to glide — not true flying — from a tree or other high perch for up to 300 feet using furry folds of skin that stretch out between their limbs. They are social, nesting in groups in tree cavities.

In another episode, a Marietta resident last year showed me a photo she had taken of a weasel-like animal that had been killed by a car on a residential street next to a small stream. At first, she thought it was an otter, but, unlike otters, it had a thick, bushy tail and a pointed snout. A wildlife biologist identified it as a mink. “I had no idea that mink live in Georgia,” the resident said.

I have never seen a wild mink — only their tracks along rivers and streams. Mink, though, sometimes appear briefly on the trail cameras at Mason Mill Park.

So, keep an eye out: You may become one of the lucky few who have seen some of Georgia’s most elusive native creatures.

IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, retired Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be last quarter on Monday and new on Feb. 17. Over the next two weeks, Mercury and Venus are low in the west, Jupiter is high in the east and Saturn is very low in the southwest just after sunset.

Charles Seabrook can be reached at charles.seabrook@yahoo.com.