Happy Halloween everyone! Given that it’s the last day of October, our Animal of the Month wants to glide on out of the spotlight to prepare for tonight’s festivities. We hope you enjoyed following us throughout the month on “X” (a.k.a. Twitter) and Threads as we posted about the sweet sugar glider. But if spooky season kept you busy and you missed any of our posts, here is a summary that you can reference any time. Did you know?:

• There was a big change in the scientific classification of sugar gliders in the months since we last featured them as our Animal of the Month in April 2020.
• Sugar gliders were once considered to be just one widespread species (Petaurus breviceps). But in July 2020 researchers found that they are actually three genetically distinct species.
• Now, in addition to sugar gliders, there is the Savanna glider (Petaurus ariel) and the Krefft’s glider (Petaurus notatus).
• Because the Savanna glider and the Krefft’s glider have been identified as separate species, the sugar gliders’ previously believed natural range has been dramatically reduced.
• The sugar gliders’ natural range is now limited to south-eastern Australia along the coastal side of the Great Dividing Range, which is a network of mountain ranges, hills and plateaus along Australia’s east coast.
• Sugar gliders are also endemic to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and related islands. They can also be found on the Australian island of Tasmania, but they are an invasive species there.
• Sugar gliders were first brought to Tasmania in 1835 to be pets. Researchers say those sugar gliders made quick work of escaping their enclosures and within 10 years established populations in local forests.
• Sugar gliders are arboreal, which means they live in trees. They rarely – if ever – are on the ground as everything they need in terms of food, shelter and nesting hollows are high up in the trees.
• Sugar gliders are often found in different types of forests, including cool temperate rainforests and bushland. They have also been found in agricultural areas and country gardens.
• Sugar gliders are small marsupials and only have an average body length of 5-7 inches (about 16 cms). They are also very light and usually weigh somewhere between 80-160 grams on average.
• Sugar gliders have long slender tails tipped with black fur. Their tails are usually about the same length as their bodies – 5-7 inches (about 16 cms).
• “I’m all ears – and eyes too!” Relative to their small heads, sugar gliders have enormous bat-like ears and round protruding eyes. Their whiskered snouts come to a slight point.
• Dorsally, sugar gliders have soft short grey fur with a black stripe that starts just above the nose and runs down their backs, stopping just before their tails begin. Their undersides are cream-coloured.
• Sugar gliders have five digits on each foot. Each toe has a curved claw on it with the exception of their big toes on their hind feet. These big toes are opposable, which helps them climb trees.
• Male sugar gliders are usually a bit bigger and heavier than their female counterparts. The stripe that runs down their backs also tends to be thicker on males.
• Sugar gliders have quite a few predators in the wild; including, owls, snakes, kookaburras, goannas (monitor lizards) and quolls, which are carnivorous marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea.
• Sugar gliders use their ability to glide away as their way of evading predators. They have a membrane called a patagium, which is attached to their front and rear ankles.
• The patagium stretches out when sugar gliders extend their legs. This forms their own personal parachute that allows them to quickly glide away for up to about 45 metres (148 feet).
• Their long tails are used as rudders and give sugar gliders the ability to manage direction while they are gliding.
• Their huge eyes give sugar gliders a wide field of vision and the ability to see well in the dark. In addition, their fantastic senses of hearing and smell also help them detect approaching predators.
• In addition to their natural predators, sugar gliders also face threats from humans, mostly through habitat destruction.
• Sugar gliders are omnivores, which means they eat both plant and animal matter. And, as their name suggests, they are particularly fond of sweet sap from eucalyptus trees.
• Sugar gliders in the wild also consume nectar, pollen, insects and their larvae, small birds, nestlings and eggs, small lizards and spiders.
• Sugar gliders can live approximately five years in the wild. With proper care in captivity, sugar gliders can live up to about 15 years.

This is the fourth time we have featured sugar gliders as our Animal of the Month. We welcome you to check out our blog posts from December 2015, September 2018 and April 2020 to see what we posted the first three times.