One Year Ago...

October 14, 2009 was a cloudy, cold day in the Midwest. M and I were on our way back from picking up two  sugar gliders who were just a little frightened and uncertain about what was going on. They were a 5-month old brother and sister we named CB and Foehn. We had asked for two young females and were told they would be available, but that wasn't the case. I was close to walking out of the breeder's home empty-handed, but something told me to go ahead. During the ride home we discussed how this wasn't what we thought it would be (in terms of not getting what we asked for) and whether we had gotten ourselves into something more than we initially bargained for. Foehn was the more frightened of the two and she let us know during the five-hour drive home, crabbing at every opportunity and adopting a defensive posture when we peeked in the stinky pouch they had. Her brother CB, well, if he was frightened he didn't show it. He slept during the entire ride and seemed unfazed by his noisy sister. One thing was clear - these two had distinctly different personalities.

One year later, we are happy we made the decision we did. Not only were CB and Foehn removed from a crummy living situation, but they have won our hearts and we their trust. It's taken a lot of patience, persistence, and more than a few anxious moments (most of which have been documented in this blog). It was such a good experience that we felt ready to adopt two additional gliders in need of a new home in March of this year. Virga and Cirrus are older and were more wary, but what we learned with CB and Foehn helped us to work with them to overcome their fear and to eventually create that bond. It was cemented when they were introduced to CB and Foehn in July, and all four are now happily living together.