Welcome to a monumental Wild Fact. You may have noticed that we are officially at the half-way mark of our little Wild Facts project. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support and enthusiasm up to this milestone. It has been an incredible journey so far and we are just getting started. So buckle up and enjoy the next 500 Animal Facts! To celebrate the mid-point we are going to learn about a cuddly animal called the Sugar Glider. Before we glide through the rest of the Wild Facts, let’s take a quick trip to Australia to check out the Sugar Glider.

As mentioned, the Sugar Glider is native to Australia and New Guinea but can be found in homes throughout the world. That’s right, these lovable little creatures are very popular among pet owners. In fact, they are some of the most common pets that are being plucked out of their natural habitat and illegally traded. Don’t worry though, there are plenty of breeders that will provide the Sugar Glider to you legally but make sure you check your appropriate laws before rushing out and buying one. So before you buy your children a new pet, we should probably find out what they are, right?

Of course we should.

The Sugar Glider is a gliding possum that has a long, partially prehensile tail, which is quite important for these little critters.  Even though they live in a warm climate, this little marsupial still has a beautiful, soft fur coat that is usually a blue-grey colour; however, some individuals like to be different so they will mix things up with a yellow or tan coloured coat. Okay, it is time to learn about the most interesting feature of the Sugar Glider. In order to glide long distances, they have a thin membrane that stretches out from their fifth finger to their ankle. When they properly utilize this membrane the Sugar Glider is capable of gliding distances of 100 m (300′) as they go from tree to tree. Remember that long, partially prehensile tail I mentioned earlier? Well it is basically their steering wheel while in flight as they use it to stabilize themselves, steer and even land. Maybe we can start a project where we count down a 1000 uses for a tail!

Sugar Glider Fast Fact – The Sugar Glider is playful when hanging out with their own family but the minute you introduce a non-clan member or another animal, they will become fierce attackers. As well, the dominant male in the group will typically scent mark his clan members and their territory. That seems a little possessive but whatever works, right?

I guess we are now officially on the downside of our countdown. I hope you enjoyed the first 500 Facts and I look forward to interacting with all of you as we make our way to zero.