Glider and Human Relationships

Mia is such a little character. She lets me hold her in my bare hands, outside the pouch a lot of times during the day. She makes cute little contented clicky purring noises and gives kisses, not only to me, but to other people as well. One of her favorite things is getting her tummy rubbed, and if she thinks she can get you to do it and keep you at it, she'll bend her neck real far back so you can get at her chest and front easily. She'll kiss me more frequently than other people and she doesn't like anyone else trying to get her out of the pouch besides me. Mia is so calm that she'll cling onto my shirt and stay there for a while as I move my hands away and let other people stroke her. Her rate of clicks and kisses for me in the morning especially is something else! once I put her in the pouch for the day, she'll often try to grab and lick my fingers before I can get my hand out and shut the pouch. Then she starts with the clicks - with the frequency of a telegraph or typewriter. The sound is of course much softer, like the noises a sleepy puppy makes when being moved, but the clicks come more often than that. The kisses are quick and excited as well. It's cute. When she's in her pouch, she may ask for attention by peeking out. If I put my hand in, she gets comfortable down in the pouch but often if I withdraw my hand, she's back in this position: head up, sniffing about, body stretched upward, front paws clinging near the top of the pouch on the inside. When out of the pouch, she clicks and snuggles.

when she thinks she's getting a treat, she makes a cute little chatter that's very quiet but sort of like that of a curious weasel, and she squirms and sniffs, sometimes her head and shoulders are out of the pouch. Mia gives hugs too, grabbing hold of my fingers and not wanting to let go. Often this is accompanied by lots of glider kisses. ^_^

Communication

She barks insistantly when there is upset in the house, and barks moderately when she just wants attention. Mind you, that has become quite unnecessary since she is with me most of the time.

One day in March 97, I got my wisdom teeth out and was feeling pretty rough that night. Well, i was in my room lying down, and Mother brought me some ice packs for my face. As she was trying to help me get remotely comfortable, Mia began to bark and she just wouldn't quit until mother went over to the cage and talked to her. A little while later, Mother went to feed her since I was feeling so lousy. But she put her arm all the way in the cage and put the food on the floor - I needed to get a new food dish at that time. well, Mia jumped on her arm and ran up it, and onto her back. My mother likes Mia at a distance or when she is calm during the day, but not crawling on her thank you very much. She screamed, my ice packs went flying and I had to rescue my poor mother from this little 5-inch long creature that probably couldn't figure out what was up with this human. lol. I think Mia probably wanted to get to me because I wasn't well.

Another time, a week later actually, my uncle Cory had died of cancer. :( When I got home from work, me and my parents sat around the table and cried. We stayed like that for a long time it seemed, even though Mia was barking incessantly upstairs. only when we had regained some composure and I went up to my room did Mia quiet down.

Another time in the middle of the night she barked, and she wouldn't quit for nothing man. The next morning, I found out my dad's truck had been stolen! It has been recovered thank goodness.

Cute stuff

Escapes

Having returned home from Sask, I hadn't put Mia back in her regular cage yet - she was still in her travel cage. I was gonna clean the regular one first. Unfortunately the lid to the travel cage broke but not enough, I thought, to allow her to get out. it was a little plastic piece broke off when I accidentally bent the lid back too far. Easy to do with them things.

That night I was awakened by barking. So I let Mia know that yes I was still alive, just sleeping now and wasn't into playing at this hour. :) She went quiet.

Dozed off again and moments later, I was awakened by something landing right on my chest! you guessed it, it was the little furry curious lovable critter that barked at me minutes before. Well, I had to get up, put her food and water into the big cage and move her back in there. It would be cleaned the next day anyway. I thought that was so cute - many animals that size would probably get out and look for a place to hide such as in the walls. not Mia, she headed for me. When i caught her to put her back, she walked up to my hand and gave it a few kisses before I picked her up and put her in the big cage. What a rascal!

She got out another time when I thought I had latched the cage securely. I was sitting at my computer at 6 AM when I felt this thing crawling on my foot. Thinking it was just a bug, I wondered what it was doing in my room in February yet. Then I felt that besides the tickly feeling, there was something soft and furry, and too big for a bug rubbing against my foot! Little brat! She scampered a little when I moved my foot as well and that makes a cute noise.

Chow Time

One day, my cousin's kids were over, and for a very special treat, they got to give Mia a little of their ice cream. Of course I don't let this happen often. Well, I had been getting ready for work and when I came up from the basement, the kids told me that Mia had climbed out of the pouch in broad daylight, found the dish of ice cream, had her front paws gripping it, just about to dive in! They had to take it away on her. Lol! Where's a camera or camcorder when ya need one? You can't be making or eating things that will get Mia's attention because she squirms in the pouch until she gets a treat, or gets removed from the environment. I can not make a vanilla capuccino with Mia around, she wants it so badly. And one day, Mother had chicken frying, and I leaned over the pan to have a good sniff. Mmmmmm. I had put Mia off to one side so she'd be out of the way, and she was still in the pouch. But as I was enjoying the wonderful smell of frying chicken, I became aware of something moving at my left side, and a little nose nudged my hand through the pouch. Drat that possum, now I couldn't even have her about me when smelling fried chicken! Had to go get her a treat and then put her upstairs so I could at least eat in peace. Lol.

Mia will also waste very little time climbing out of the pouch to steal my French toast. It makes a good snack at work, but Mother makes the best French toast, it's good and crusty around the edges and not soggy or overly egg tasting - probably because the eggs are beaten well, which they have to be to make it good. But it smells as great as it tastes, and unfortunately Mia never misses that, she always notices! Lol. So she gets it as a treat now and then, and the other times, I just have to bring along her own treats, if she'll settle for them that is. :)

Glider Tantrum

The only time Mia nipped me deliberately out of anger was the night I wanted to give her food or refill the water bottle and I didn't have the travel cage handy to put her in while doing this. That meant getting her out of the cage and shutting her in the pouch for a few minutes. I got her in the pouch fine but once I closed it, she crabbed and crabbed! There was absolutely no reason for fear, she was just mad. She wanted to run around and now she couldn't. When I got everything done in the cage, I went to open the pouch and take her out. But she greeted me with a crab and a little nip. So, I got quite firm with her at that point and just shut her in again. Only when she was calmed down did I let her out and back into the cage.

How Socialized Can They Be?

Although she can be stubborn and sassy, she's amazingly calm and interactive for a creature her size, and the calmest glider ever seen by the shops where I take her to get her nails clipped. She doesn't care to have it done but won't freak out either. She stays put fairly well as long as I'm there to hold her and give her strokes and rubs while the staff clips her nails. The most she'll do is yank her paw away and make it into a tiny fist. But she always gets crickets after having her nails done, so, probably knows it pays to sit and be good. That is never hard for her to do anyway as long as she's getting physical contact from me.

Heck, she'll even sit still during her play time in the cage when I reach in to check her water bottle. She'll sit and let me stroke/rub her for as long as I want, and of course, she gives kisses too.

She is a good pet to take around care centers and places where people can't get out on their own. Mia has become a real little star at the care center I volunteer my time as a musician at, as well as at the bank, the hair stylist's, the Back to Nature store, and a couple of pet shops, as well as my place of employment. She has even helped out at work, by cheering upset children. It has happened several times now, where a child didn't want to participate in ballet class or else just got frustrated. But a little time taken to see Mia, and they usually forget what they were crying about, and class goes ahead a little sooner and runs smoothly.

I think Mia is so good with people in general, and cooperative with getting her nails done because she gets so much one-on-one contact, and since she's used to getting her feet, tail, even the flap of skin that goes from front to back legs on either side of her, (the same thing a flying squirrel has to help them glide from tree to tree) it's very little or no problem having her nails done and having others touch and look at her.