The Barks Have No Bite

It been two weeks since my last post - too long!. Between a business trip and other things I haven't had the time to sit down until now, so I thought I would provide a little update on the subject of my last post. Our theory about the barking may have been correct, but it wasn't repeatable. We are past the time when Virga and Foehn should have come into heat according to our last figuring, and we didn't see the same barking behavior as last time. Cirrus is next up (today in fact), so we'll see what happens. As started to write this there were a few quiet barks from the pouch, but your guess as as good as mine as to who it may have been. There aren't many other signs that one of them is in heat, except that CB tends to stay off by himself sometimes.

There hasn't been a lot new recently. They finally have become a lot more active during tent time. All four of them start spending 10 or 15 minutes grooming themselves, and then gradually come out and start running around. On Monday and Tuesday they were having a grand old time, so much so that I really hated to stop it. Last night was a different story, and they spent the better part of an hour all tucked in the boat. 

Foehn checks out the action from the boat

They have been getting plenty of exercise, however. M has been the one to give them their yogurt treat in the morning, and over the last month or so they have started to frolic and explore around the office. Cirrus started it all, and now all four of them are waiting for M to come in and open the cage door in the morning. They usually take a few licks of yogurt, but play time is foremost on their mind. After 10 or 15 minutes they climb back into their cage and head for their sleeping pouch. Only on rare occasions does M have to actually round one of them up. It's interesting how this has become their routine, but it's also a little unfortunate. Within a couple of weeks we won't be able to let them run around like that anymore, and we will miss it as much as they will. I'll have more on what that's all about in a future post.

Confusing Communication

After a stretch of several days of quiet with the gliders, I had an interesting time with them in the tent a few nights ago. That night, Foehn and Cirrus were having some serious issues with each other. Foehn seemed to be the one that was taking exception. They would approach each other, sniff a bit, and then one or the other would crab, hiss, and lunge. We were not sure what was going on as they have always gotten along (Virga was the one who was having difficulty adjusting early on). Foehn would bark from time to time as if she wanted attention or was looking for someone, but then didn't like the attention she was getting. One other thing I noticed was that Foehn was making a faint and somewhat rapid clicking sound when they were near each other. It reminded me of the sound of someone's teeth chattering. The only other time I heard this before is when we were first introducing them in the bathtub, and Foehn was making this sound as they were checking each other out. There as obviously some communication, or miscommunication, going on. I posted a note to Glider Central (a glider forum we frequent) asking about the clicking, and the consensus was that the clicking was benign, more of a greeting rather than a warning. Whatever was causing the problem, I think Cirrus eventually figured out that it was just best to avoid Foehn that night and there weren't any serious encounters after the first few.

What has continued to amaze us is that no matter how these "disputes" start, they all end up getting along just fine. The next morning they were all comfortably sleeping together in their large pouch, and apparently Foehn and Cirrus resolved whatever was causing them conflict the night before.

A New Glider Sound

We have only heard the gliders bark twice...well, three times now. I woke up this morning at 4:00 a.m. to hear quiet barking (it didn't wake me up). A glider bark sounds much like a dog, but a very small dog. I went out to the great room to check on them, and it was Foehn barking this time. I think she was trying to call CB to get his butt out of the pouch and come and play. He crabbed a bit when he heard my voice, so he wasn't asleep.

M had an interesting experience today when she went to put them in a bonding pouch. CB was already in one pouch, and she had coaxed Foehn into a second. All of a sudden both CB and Foehn started what could best be described as crying. M said the sound was sort of like a cat mewing. She could not get them to settle down, and finally realized that they wanted to be with each other. When they finally got together in one pouch they stopped and settled in to sleep. This was something new - we've heard them crabbing, hissing (especially when Foehn bothers CB when he is sleeping in the pouch), barking, and chirping, but never crying.