Sugar gliders are native to Australia, Tasmania, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. These gliders mostly live in high trees and rarely touch the ground. They are large-eyed creatures that can glide up to 150 feet. Their fifth forefinger and back ankle are attached by thin skin, helping them flow.
Sugar gliders are similar to flying squirrels but are more related to kangaroos than flying squirrels. Mostly they have grey furs, their head has black stripes, and their underbellies are white. Gliders are 5 to 12 inches long with a bushy tail and a black line running down their back.
Diets Of Wild Sugar Glider
Sugar gliders’ diet consists of a wide variety of foods dependent upon different seasons. So they feed on seasonal foods just like humans do. Furthermore, they were moving towards what they eat in the summer and winter.
These possums primarily indulge in insects, and the next is eucalyptus sap, nectar, acacia gum, honeydew, bird eggs, pollen, fungi, native fruits, lerp, respectively.
Sugar gliders can be carnivorous or herbivorous based on the availability of foods around them. They are known to be huge energy savers. Instead of hunting for the insects and other alive eatable creatures, they patiently wait for their prey to fly over their nests. And when they sense the green light, they will catch them. Clever right?
Research has shown that they look for tree cones and tree barks in search of spiders and beetles. They mostly prefer sweet foods and foods such as mealworms and fly pupae above any other. The water they drink is the stored water from raindrops.
Habitats Of Wild Sugar Gliders
Sugar gliders live in the tree hollows with their group, a colony consisting of up to ten members. Their tiny home is made up of tree stems structured in the form of nests. When the environmental temperature is cool, the group and cuddle together to stay warm.
These gliders are social animals which is why they cannot live alone. Even when kept by humans as their pets, a single sugar glider is not enough. At least two of them need to raise them healthy and happy.
Being nocturnal creatures, they hide and sleep in their nests in the daytime and become active at night. They try their best to avoid the daylight.
Lifespan Of Wild Sugar Gliders
In the wild, sugar gliders live up to 3-9 years. As a result, they can survive and get food for themselves in the wild. While in captivity, it’s the opposite; they are dependent upon humans for their survival. As a result, gliders up to seven to ten months-olds stay with their mothers.
As natives of the higher temperature lands, they prefer warm climates over cool ones. Their life is enjoyable in the forests, but the only things that threaten them are the predators, bush fires, and land clearances for farming purposes. Living up to these is their biggest challenge and harsh reality.
Behaviour And Temperament Of Wild Sugar Glider
Sugar gliders are those possums that are highly social engaging in social grooming. Social grooming includes taking care of health and hygiene, maintaining good relationships among the colony members. Furthermore, the most important is establishing group identity.
These species are among the few who genuinely take responsibility to care for their babies. Within the colony, two co-dominant male sugar gliders share food, nests, and mates. Their territory is marked by a scent identical to the colony members and different from the other outsiders. That particular scent recognizes members of their territory.
The duty and responsibility of scent marking of community members are upon the co-dominant males. Usually, quarrelsome behaviors do not exist between the community members but when outsiders contact. Then they try to show defensive traits and threatening behavior and start harming each other. A community colonizes the colony size of 2.5 acres.
Reproduction Of Wild Sugar Gliders
Female sugar gliders give birth to one or two baby gliders in a year. Those babies are called joeys. They stay with their mothers for at least ten months of period. The optimum maturity period age for males is 4 to 12 months, while it’s 8 to 12 months in the case of females.
Usually, sugar glider breeds once or twice a year, and climatic and habitat conditions determine breeding times. Mother gliders’ pregnancy duration is estimated at 15 to 17 days, and after that, the baby will shift to the pouch for further development.
Now, here the mother scent glands come to work. The baby joeys are born very underdeveloped, fragile, and sightless. The only sense that is properly developed is the sense of smell. So, the scent gland present in the mothers’ pouch helps joeys attract towards the pouch.
While the joeys stay inside the uterus for 17 days, outside the uterus in the pouch, they stay for 60 days for their complete development. Finally, after 80 days, joeys will open their eyes for the first time, and they are prepared to step out of their nests after approximately 110 days of their birth.
What Are The Structural Differences Between Male And Female Wild Sugar Gliders?
Comparatively, male sugar gliders are larger than females. Physically they can be differentiated by the size factor and the shape of the stripe present in their forehead. Females have a straight white stripe, and males have a diamond-shaped white line.
Similarly, females have two scent glands, whereas males have four. Those scent glands are found in the forehead and chest of males and the pouch of females. The remaining two scent glands in males and one in females is known as the paracloacal scent gland. That gland is specifically used for defining and marking their territory.
What Are Predators Of The Wild Sugar Glider?
The natural predators are owls, kookaburras, goannas, snakes, quolls, feral cats, foxes, cats, and dogs. Other environmental threats stimulated by humans are land clearances and forest clearances resulting in sugar gliders’ habitat fragmentation. Besides, if found on nests, baby sugar gliders, humans steal and sell them illegally.
However, they try to save themselves from all these predators by their ability to glide. They glide from one tree to another in case of some unexpected attacks. Also, they find security staying in groups high up in the trees. This is also a mechanism to save themselves from prospective predators.
How Do Wild Sugar Gliders Communicate?
Sugar gliders’ communication occurs through vocalizations, chemical signs, and chemical odors (scent glands). They produce vocal sounds such as barking, yapping, buzzing, droning, screaming, and hissing. Among all those, the one that is familiar with humans is crabbing. They make crabbing sounds when they are afraid.
To communicate with other gliders and humans, they make barking noises. If you want to keep sugar gliders as pets, constant human interaction and regular communication are essential to have uplift bonding activities.
Apart from all these sounds, gliders make popping sounds when suffering from pneumonia or respiratory infection. Also, clicking sounds refers to the feeling of safety and contentment.
Are Wild Sugar Gliders On The Verge Of Extinction?
Sugar gliders have a lower risk of extinction. Therefore, we can say that there is almost zero risk for sugar gliders to be extinct. However, according to the geographical and climatic conditions, specific gliders in some places might be in danger due to the various external environmental situations.
Conclusion
Wild sugar gliders are small, nocturnal creatures with a minimal range. They’re found in Australia and New Guinea, where they live in trees among the leaves of eucalyptus trees. These animals use their long tongues to feed on nectar from flowers, so they need access to flowering plants year-round.
In addition, the wild sugar glider has an interesting ability – it can glide through the air for short distances using its patagium (a membrane connecting forelimbs and hind limbs) like wings or sails! This allows them to escape predators by leaping across gaps between trees when necessary.