A Transformation

We adopted Virga and Cirrus (now 7 going on 8 years old) in March. They were two very different personalities compared to CB and Foehn. For a long time they were wary of their new surroundings, naturally, and Virga in particular had her idiosyncrasies. She would crab loudly if she was disturbed in her pouch, and would frequently lunge and bite if you placed your hand in the pouch. The crabbing went on even if you weren't actually bothering her, but she sensed you might. Cirrus was not as bad, and in fact seemed at times to look at Virga as if to say "Would you give it up already?" We figured part of her noise-making may have been related to her previous home where there were cats around, and perhaps she had been scared or startled while in the pouch. Over the last few months she has improved in this regard, but the real transformation came in the past 10 days, following their introduction to CB and Foehn.

I mentioned in my last post that I had developed a soft spot for Virga, as she seemed to be the outsider in this colony and retreated to me when she got in a tussle with either Foehn or CB (usually Foehn). The first several days of the new arrangement did have its rough moments. Virga would come up to Foehn and sniff her, or try to groom her, and Foehn would take exception. This happened a few times in the tent as well as in the cage, but when all was said and done all four gliders were together in their pouch in the morning. Over the last five days we have noticed a remarkable change in Virga. She no longer crabs in the pouch, lunges, or tries to bite. She and the rest of the crew all get along well now, and it has been two or three days since she and Foehn have had a spat. In the tent she climbs and jumps with the rest of them, and will readily climb on to my hand or arm. She will sit still and let us pet her, something she didn't really like that much a month or so ago. Virga and Cirrus always seemed to have an indifferent attitude toward food. When I would come in to give them all some yogurt licks in the morning, Cirrus and Virga would take a few and then ignore further offerings. M gives them their morning yogurt now, and says Virga and Cirrus are first out for theirs and can't get enough.

The successful introduction of our four gliders was a long time in coming, but the wait was worth it. Virga and Cirrus seem to be much happier and have bonded more with us, and we think Foehn and CB like this new arrangement as well. Dealing with four gliders all at once, as opposed to one pair at a time, has presented a couple of challenges and interesting moments this past week. More on that in the next post. My next challenge is to get a good photo of all four of them together for the blog page.