Sugar Glider Flying Squirrel, 9" Long

4692, SUGAR GLIDER 10'' from Hansa Creations U.S.A. Step into the serene beauty of nature with HANSA Creation USA's Realistic Woodland and Prairie Animal Collection. Our skilled artisans have thoughtfully crafted a captivating array of animals native to woodlands and prairies, from the graceful deer and clever foxes to the majestic bears and playful raccoons. 

The Sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) is a small arboreal gliding possum that belongs to the marsupial infraclass. It is so called due to loving sweet food such as sugar and honey, while the word 'glider' refers to their gliding habit when moving between trees. Sugar gliders have very similar habits and appearance to the flying squirrel, despite not being closely related - an example of convergent evolution. The scientific name of these animals translates from Latin as "short-headed rope-dancer", a reference to their canopy acrobatics.

The Sugar glider has a squirrel-like body with a long, partially (weakly) prehensile tail. The fur coat is thick, soft, and is usually blue-grey; although some have been known to be yellow, tan, or (rarely) albino. A black stripe is seen from its nose to midway on its back. Its belly, throat, and chest are cream in color. Males have four scent glands, located on the forehead, chest, and two paracloacal that are used for marking group members and territory. Scent glands on the head and chest of males appear as bald spots. Females also have a paracloacal scent gland and a scent gland in the pouch but do not have scent glands on the chest or forehead. The males of this species are typically larger than the females.

Sugar gliders occur in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and surrounding islands as well as in northern and eastern parts of mainland Australia. They are able to live in a wide variety of habitats such as plantations, rural gardens, roadside areas as well as rainforest, eucalypt forest, and woodland.

These omnivorous animals particularly favor the sweet sap of the eucalyptus tree, supplementing their diet with pollen, nectar, insects, and their larvae, arachnids as well as small vertebrates.

• When a Sugar glider is angry, it will warn the opponent by leaning back and emitting a chattering sound, which is quite similar to that, produced by a small, yapping dog. If the attempt was unsuccessful, the animal will take drastic measures, striking the opponent with full force.
• When moving between trees, this animal uses its gliding membrane, found between its wrists and ankles. When flying, the animal is able to control and change the size and shape of the membrane by changing the position of its limbs. Meanwhile, the tail helps them manage the flight, acting as a rudder.
• Sugar gliders are able to glide up to 45 meters at a time. When finishing the glide, they use their sharp claws to cling to nearby branches.
• In order to identify group members, males in the group use their special scent glands, found on their forehead and chest, to mark all members of their group.
• On their hind limbs, Sugar gliders have grooming combs, made up of two webbed toes.
• Anklebones of these animals are extremely flexible, rotating up to 180 degrees, due to which they can climb down vertical tree trunks head first.
• Females of this species are able to simultaneously produce two types of milk in each of their nipples, intended for two joeys of different ages. Each type of milk has its own unique composition, which is suitable for a joey of a certain age.
• Sugar gliders are known to use a wide variety of vocalizations to communicate with conspecifics. They give out a clicking sound, which resembles that of a rusty chainsaw. Moreover, these marsupials can even bark like small dogs, typically around a full moon.

Product Dimension: 8.66(L) X 7.87(W) X 2.76(H)

HANSA CREATION, INC.  Woodland & Prairie is HANSA CREATION's hand-crafted collection of realistic plush animals. It takes great pride in each enchanting work of soft sculpture art, carefully designed to educate, fascinate, captivate and inspire creative play for collectors of all ages.

Artists create each HANSA animal from portraits of the creature in its natural habitat appropriately called Hansa Creation Portrait's in Nature. It is HANSA's uncompromising integrity in design and quality standards that has charmed collectors for generations and continues to mesmerize new collectors of all ages.