Someone gave me a sugar glider, one time. Worst pet ever. Since they are nocturnal, they come out at night to make noise and wreak general havoc. I had to clean the cage every day, because STINK. I found her another home with people who had a bunch of them.
And the noise they make is terrifying. How can something so small sound so scary?
Yes. Nobody told me about that. The first night we got her home, she escaped. We turned the house upside down trying to find her. I found her up inside the sofa, by the smell. And then she made that noise. OMG. And of course, once she saw it scared the snot out of us, she knew she was in control of the situation. The remainder of our time together was a standoff.
"...Gliders are very social and live in groups of five to 12 in the wild. They are quite vocal and are usually passive, but may bite when scared, stressed, in pain, or poorly socialized.
As pets, sugar gliders must be kept in groups, fed a special diet, and need an extra source of warmth year round. They are nocturnal, can be very noisy at night, and need specialized veterinary care..." And room! My city 25'x125' lot will not be adequate, dammit.
Welp, at least I don't have to explain to the F̷e̷l̷i̷n̷e̷ ̷O̷v̷e̷r̷l̷o̷r̷d̷s̷ ̷ cats.
He's so adorable--do they really run back like that as a normal thing? I can't imagine--though I did have one pet rabbit who would "come when called"--I suspect it wasn't that he "knew" his name, but he was good about sticking with his person...I know, these aren't rodents, but still.
The way he runs back is just the cutest part. Thank you, Mme. Glambassador.
Between those ebony orbs taking in EVERY detail around her and those fascinating, five fingered "hands" that at first glance look so much like OUR'S that precious wee sugar glider is as fascinating as she is an evolutionary marvel.
Tres bien, Martini!
[I really need to stop being a coward, turn on the French translator on this wonky PC, hope like hell it functions, and actually include the accent grande that belongs atop that "E" in "tress". Souer Cecile would be SO cross with me!]
The videos make it look like such a neat experience, but the fact is, you'd need to be a night owl to really have a lot of interaction with them. And they stink.
I've never owned a cat, but I've seen enough cat videos to know they make noises that would scare the hell out of me if I heard them unexpectedly at 3 AM.
Your post mentions that they need special care. I assume that's why someone said they stink the last time sugar gliders were brought up around here - people who aren't on top of that
You have a friend in me, Toots. I quite adamantly feel the same way.
Even if I were rolling in the $$$ and could afford to build them their own "room" I couldn't keep these magnificent creatures as pets; its just NOT right.
If I had that kind of $$$ I'd be buying massive tracts of land or entire islands appropriate for my beloved orangutans to live peacefully and undisturbed. I have a particularly soft spot in my heart for our great ape cousins and want desperately to protect them.
I remember bouncing around in the back of mom's Oldsmobile nine passenger station wagon at the now looOOoooog gone 5-Mile drive-in theater to THIS classic number when we were there to see this film one long ago summer night.
I was about 6 or 7 years old but I distinctly remember thinking that despite his grand dreams that Louie did NOT want to be one of we nasty, not quite so hairy apes.
Hamas is an evil terrorist organization whose sole strategic goal was to get into a war with Israel, and by Jingo it worked. What the IDF is doing is hard to characterize as "defensive;" From the beginning the Israeli reaction has been punitive (and cathartic), and it erased an actual opportunity to dismantle Hamas with international support.
I was in-patient in central Michigan for a chronic pain thing and I had long-ish and dyed hair as a guy. I was walking to do lunch when a nurse stopped me and said, "You have hair like my son, he's the singer of Taproot, are you familiar with them?" It was Mrs. Richards, Stephen's mom! I had met a couple of those dudes earlier hanging out at University of Michigan in the DIY phase, but these were rock stars now (then) and one of their moms is randomly pulling me aside and mentioning them to to me and this is weird. I said, "Yeah, I love those guys!" Because I did. But I felt like an idiot.
Friend of mine went to her landlord's house for Thanksgiving dinner a year or two ago. The hostess, a sweet 70 year old Virginia lady said "Hey, have you ever heard of Fugazi?" When said friend's jaw was off the floor she learned the lady's son is in a band currently with one of the original Fugazi guys. It was all the more funny to me, since I know the guy too. (Not the Fugazi one),
Ha. She should have. It's more of a regional connection, I guess - they're in northern VA, not far outside DC. The current band, Messthetics, has a new album out with a fulltime guest shot from an actual bud of mine, saxophonist James Brandon Lewis. Here: https://youtu.be/uQJJNkxRMV4?si=STuEl25lWxRnMTW2
Hey, how’d your vet bill rise so high so fast? If you’d thought about it, you’d have guessed “private equity”! Those guys got their grimy little paws in every pie!
One of our cats developed acute CHF basically overnight. We took her to the emergency vet, I was at work but my wife and kids were there and very traumatized by the event.
So my wife called me and said they have 3 choices.
Put the cat down, get 24 hrs of care and see what happens, or 48 hours with a consult from a cardiologist.
Now I’m thinking probably the 24 hr plan until I was told it would cost 3800 dollars to basically keep her in an oxygen tent and monitor.
With the cardiologist and another day was 6000.
At least the vet, who seemed pretty conflicted and was verrrrry careful with her wording explained that the cat didn’t have a comfortable life ahead regardless, and that we would just be delaying the inevitable by a few weeks but you could tell that she wasn’t allowed to say it in those words. It’s only because I am an RN that i was able to ask the right questions to know the truth.
A layperson almost assuredly would have thought the cat could be “cured” and would have considered paying that inordinate amount of money, especially when the kids are right there.
It felt like emotional blackmail and now I know why.
I have no doubt the private equity people have seminars on how to steer clients into unnecessary expensive treatments regardless of whether the animal would have quality of life after.
YIL they also have their sticky fingers in PUBLIC LIBRARIES --- in the poorly municipally funded areas like rural areas and communities of color
I used to watch Billions, and they looted an entire town -- but I guess it's one of those House of Cards things, where real life outpaces the writers and so the show just has to stop writing
My dog developed an ear infection. I waited 5 days for a standard appointment. They sent us home with a dozen pills and some ear drops. They charged me $275.
Just finished reading the whole article. This is the tone I was getting from the vet. Dead on what was happening.
One vet, who worked for an emergency-services practice that, they said, raised prices by 20 percent in 2022, told me, “I almost got to the point where I was ashamed to tell people what the estimate was for things because it was so insanely high.” (The vet asked for anonymity because they feared legal repercussions.)
Sadly the border that the Border Patrol patrols includes everywhere within 100 miles of the actual border, which covers a significant portion of the US population. That's too much territory and too much authority.
I think I read that they're claiming jurisdiction within a 100 mile radius of international airports, too. Which expands their reach to basically everywhere.
I used the word "think", and maybe I heard or read it somewhere, but I can't really find a source now. The ACLU mentioned "roving patrols" in the interior, but nothing specific to airports other than the usual customs. I don't put anything past them, though.
Since Judge Juan is of a rational demeanor, I’ll be his anger translator today: “Mr. Trump, your drug-addled peabrain is obviously incapable of processing even the simplest concept. ‘Testifying’ is what one - though likely not you - does on the witness stand under oath, under penalty of perjury, What is precluded in the gag order is ‘talking out of your ass’, which is what you do in the hallway & online all fucking night, which is why you can’t stay wake in court, dickhead,”
It's really important to distinguish between Hamas, who started this war, and the citizens of Gaza, who did not, and also between the Israeli government, who responded with excessive violence, and the Israeli citizens, who may or may not support the government's decisions. People rarely make these distinctions.
So I continue the courageous hunt for the Wonkmansion that we can occupy together. This is an interesting contender. It is a house that is so big that it has a kitchen and then another kitchen in case you get lost on your way back to the other kitchen and you get hungry while you’re looking for the kitchen. We could fit a lot of cats in this one is what I’m saying.
It’s going to need some work. An apple orchard with 100-year-old stone building of indeterminant use for the tweeners to stake claim and put a no grown-ups allowed sign on the hole where the door would be if there was a door. And a barn with a wall full of warrens for the young Warriors that come and go by night on missions about which they do not speak. They’re also going to be responsible for managing security, so that should minimize safety issues.
I say it’s all going to depend upon the strategies. Are the vulnerable protected through the muskox technique? Are the venerable venerated? Will we have trained murder hornets? 🐝 so much has to be decided before concrete action is taken. Or concrete poured.
Judging from the looks of the sauna, would say the likelihood of a pre-existing burrow is high.
I’m still liking that other one better, the one with the flatland so you could drive heavy equipment around in circles without damaging anything, and we could have a vineyard.
And if I recall correctly, it was about half a million cheaper.
The plan for after is right out of Cory Doctorow's story "The Masque of the Red Death" in which his libertarian tough-guy protagonist's plans for after the apocalypse is to hunker in a bunker, but who (spoiler) winds up dying alone bc he's too selfish.
Bannon et al don't get the last bit. They would deny that it's possible....but the bunkers they plan to hide out in won't protect them as they'd like.
I hope JC says, ‘You call this an award?’, then sits Cheeto down with a voluminous album chronicling every magnificent cathedral in which he has been enshrined over millennia…and wraps up by saying, ‘Top that, Burger Boy!’.
Look eet dem big, sweet eyes! Yer header gif source info: https://open.substack.com/pub/martiniambassador/p/gliding-on-into-the-weekend
The Sugar Glider
has big black eyes
and her fur is white
as through the air she flies
But can you train it to shit in a box?
Someone gave me a sugar glider, one time. Worst pet ever. Since they are nocturnal, they come out at night to make noise and wreak general havoc. I had to clean the cage every day, because STINK. I found her another home with people who had a bunch of them.
And the noise they make is terrifying. How can something so small sound so scary?
The "crabbing"!
Yes. Nobody told me about that. The first night we got her home, she escaped. We turned the house upside down trying to find her. I found her up inside the sofa, by the smell. And then she made that noise. OMG. And of course, once she saw it scared the snot out of us, she knew she was in control of the situation. The remainder of our time together was a standoff.
All manner of marsupials crab. I'd be walking around Brisbane at night and out of the top of a tree, THAT NOISE!
Throw me again! Throw me again!
It's like a Lab who is both the dog AND the ball.
What an adorable creature. Doing doing doing doing doing HI!
My day requires nothing more than that gif. Holy moly that is next level CUTE!!!
My kind of game of "Fetch."
An illustration of why I never became a hunter. The only thing I see worth shooting are the power poles.
"...Gliders are very social and live in groups of five to 12 in the wild. They are quite vocal and are usually passive, but may bite when scared, stressed, in pain, or poorly socialized.
As pets, sugar gliders must be kept in groups, fed a special diet, and need an extra source of warmth year round. They are nocturnal, can be very noisy at night, and need specialized veterinary care..." And room! My city 25'x125' lot will not be adequate, dammit.
Welp, at least I don't have to explain to the F̷e̷l̷i̷n̷e̷ ̷O̷v̷e̷r̷l̷o̷r̷d̷s̷ ̷ cats.
But man, those are impressive beasts...
He's so adorable--do they really run back like that as a normal thing? I can't imagine--though I did have one pet rabbit who would "come when called"--I suspect it wasn't that he "knew" his name, but he was good about sticking with his person...I know, these aren't rodents, but still.
The way he runs back is just the cutest part. Thank you, Mme. Glambassador.
If you spent hours with it, from birth, then yes. They really need to imprint on their owners. Mine hated me. She just loathed me.
Oh, Linda!
That could be why that one bunny liked me so much, whereas the other two that I've had also loathed me.
Sorry she hated you, but it's also kind of hilarious that you were loathed by a marsupial. I was loathed by a rabbit named Mr. Twitchet.
They're just not a good pet, unless you are awake all night and have hours every night to train them. I feel sorry for the poor things.
Yes--they're adorable, but I wouldn't have one. I can just enjoy them at a remove.
Yep. Wild animals should not really be pets.
New variation on "fetch", LOL!!
I like the fact that he enjoys being thrown and comes running back for more. I hear Rocky and Bullwinkle music playing in my head.
Between those ebony orbs taking in EVERY detail around her and those fascinating, five fingered "hands" that at first glance look so much like OUR'S that precious wee sugar glider is as fascinating as she is an evolutionary marvel.
Tres bien, Martini!
[I really need to stop being a coward, turn on the French translator on this wonky PC, hope like hell it functions, and actually include the accent grande that belongs atop that "E" in "tress". Souer Cecile would be SO cross with me!]
Accent grave: très.
Thank ye kindly.
To say that I need a complete review is a rather embarrassing understatement.
Want.
No, you don't.
The videos make it look like such a neat experience, but the fact is, you'd need to be a night owl to really have a lot of interaction with them. And they stink.
Retracted. I'll stick with kittens!
Kittens are SO much easier and more fun. And they don't make terrifying noises.
I've never owned a cat, but I've seen enough cat videos to know they make noises that would scare the hell out of me if I heard them unexpectedly at 3 AM.
lol.
Your post mentions that they need special care. I assume that's why someone said they stink the last time sugar gliders were brought up around here - people who aren't on top of that
Weaponized stink. I am talking STONK, and I cleaned her cage daily. Like, hosed it out and scrubbed it.
I found her in our shower stall one morning. I have no idea how she got in there.
I will be the bummer person and say I really don’t like seeing wild animals kept as pets.
You have a friend in me, Toots. I quite adamantly feel the same way.
Even if I were rolling in the $$$ and could afford to build them their own "room" I couldn't keep these magnificent creatures as pets; its just NOT right.
If I had that kind of $$$ I'd be buying massive tracts of land or entire islands appropriate for my beloved orangutans to live peacefully and undisturbed. I have a particularly soft spot in my heart for our great ape cousins and want desperately to protect them.
I probably wouldn't do orangutans, but I love that idea! What a great dream to have.
Love Sugar Gliders, but want them to stay in the wild....or on my own island. :-)
King Louie
https://youtu.be/FOTZJ8EFgpk?si=L7fRydq8yqJnqXyy
I remember bouncing around in the back of mom's Oldsmobile nine passenger station wagon at the now looOOoooog gone 5-Mile drive-in theater to THIS classic number when we were there to see this film one long ago summer night.
I was about 6 or 7 years old but I distinctly remember thinking that despite his grand dreams that Louie did NOT want to be one of we nasty, not quite so hairy apes.
Sugar gliders are nocturnal and require ALL kinds of room to do their thing.
Creating a proper habitat for one in most American homes would be quite an undertaking.
Creepy.
Diane, What??? I think it's adorable! 🤩
I guess that’s fair. He told me he thinks your dog is creepy.
Very true, I found him with my undies on his head the other day.
Tater wants to know where the line forms.
I hope you weren't wearing those undies at the time.
No, they were on the bed. He has taken an interest in my pants' crotches as well. Seriously creepy.
Hamas is an evil terrorist organization whose sole strategic goal was to get into a war with Israel, and by Jingo it worked. What the IDF is doing is hard to characterize as "defensive;" From the beginning the Israeli reaction has been punitive (and cathartic), and it erased an actual opportunity to dismantle Hamas with international support.
https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2024/05/why-10-7-was-successful-for-hamas
"The next time you're eating a Reese's candy bar and some guy named Reese walks by, you have to hand it over"
- Mitch Hedberg
"Department of Homeland Security and Border Patrol needs to stop seizing state-legal New Mexico weed"
Yeah! Buy your own, ya cheapskates!
This is why Schedule 3 can only be a good thing, border-wise. Although no one stopped any of my Ketamine or research chemicals. Ever.
Candace Owens just converted to Catholicism, I assume the reactionary kind.
I mean, she could consider converting to being Black - it should work out as well as it has for Talcum X.
She wants to be Opus Dei
But tbh she's not the "right color" for them, to be as influential as she would want to be instead of just being a foot solider --
and if I had to guess, I would bet that she's also not rich enough
Candace who?
I remembered a thing! 2001!
I was in-patient in central Michigan for a chronic pain thing and I had long-ish and dyed hair as a guy. I was walking to do lunch when a nurse stopped me and said, "You have hair like my son, he's the singer of Taproot, are you familiar with them?" It was Mrs. Richards, Stephen's mom! I had met a couple of those dudes earlier hanging out at University of Michigan in the DIY phase, but these were rock stars now (then) and one of their moms is randomly pulling me aside and mentioning them to to me and this is weird. I said, "Yeah, I love those guys!" Because I did. But I felt like an idiot.
Some Taproot Ozzfest footage from that same year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcuUlb6t0Vc
Friend of mine went to her landlord's house for Thanksgiving dinner a year or two ago. The hostess, a sweet 70 year old Virginia lady said "Hey, have you ever heard of Fugazi?" When said friend's jaw was off the floor she learned the lady's son is in a band currently with one of the original Fugazi guys. It was all the more funny to me, since I know the guy too. (Not the Fugazi one),
That is nuts!
Right? Sweet meemaw with the green bean casserole talking about Fugazi. Har.
Fugazi of all bands too! What, did meemaw not know Richard Hell?!
*snerk*
Ha. She should have. It's more of a regional connection, I guess - they're in northern VA, not far outside DC. The current band, Messthetics, has a new album out with a fulltime guest shot from an actual bud of mine, saxophonist James Brandon Lewis. Here: https://youtu.be/uQJJNkxRMV4?si=STuEl25lWxRnMTW2
That is some great horn playing! Thanks for the recommendation.
And look at you, activist person! I'm glad my random story pulled you out of the shadows.
Memory is a tricky thing for me, so when a fun memory appears, It is a unique and fun thing to bring up.
We did look alike. Huh.
Twelve years of Catholic school and I have never been invited to join Opus Dei.
What's wrong with me?
not a billionaire
Hey, how’d your vet bill rise so high so fast? If you’d thought about it, you’d have guessed “private equity”! Those guys got their grimy little paws in every pie!
One of our cats developed acute CHF basically overnight. We took her to the emergency vet, I was at work but my wife and kids were there and very traumatized by the event.
So my wife called me and said they have 3 choices.
Put the cat down, get 24 hrs of care and see what happens, or 48 hours with a consult from a cardiologist.
Now I’m thinking probably the 24 hr plan until I was told it would cost 3800 dollars to basically keep her in an oxygen tent and monitor.
With the cardiologist and another day was 6000.
At least the vet, who seemed pretty conflicted and was verrrrry careful with her wording explained that the cat didn’t have a comfortable life ahead regardless, and that we would just be delaying the inevitable by a few weeks but you could tell that she wasn’t allowed to say it in those words. It’s only because I am an RN that i was able to ask the right questions to know the truth.
A layperson almost assuredly would have thought the cat could be “cured” and would have considered paying that inordinate amount of money, especially when the kids are right there.
It felt like emotional blackmail and now I know why.
I have no doubt the private equity people have seminars on how to steer clients into unnecessary expensive treatments regardless of whether the animal would have quality of life after.
Private equity people are ghouls.
"Private equity people are ghouls"
YIL they also have their sticky fingers in PUBLIC LIBRARIES --- in the poorly municipally funded areas like rural areas and communities of color
I used to watch Billions, and they looted an entire town -- but I guess it's one of those House of Cards things, where real life outpaces the writers and so the show just has to stop writing
My dog developed an ear infection. I waited 5 days for a standard appointment. They sent us home with a dozen pills and some ear drops. They charged me $275.
Fuckin' hell.
Just finished reading the whole article. This is the tone I was getting from the vet. Dead on what was happening.
One vet, who worked for an emergency-services practice that, they said, raised prices by 20 percent in 2022, told me, “I almost got to the point where I was ashamed to tell people what the estimate was for things because it was so insanely high.” (The vet asked for anonymity because they feared legal repercussions.)
Sadly the border that the Border Patrol patrols includes everywhere within 100 miles of the actual border, which covers a significant portion of the US population. That's too much territory and too much authority.
I think I read that they're claiming jurisdiction within a 100 mile radius of international airports, too. Which expands their reach to basically everywhere.
Now THIS is new. What statute enabled that? Did it come through Donald's terroristic DHS and it was just never repealed ...?
I used the word "think", and maybe I heard or read it somewhere, but I can't really find a source now. The ACLU mentioned "roving patrols" in the interior, but nothing specific to airports other than the usual customs. I don't put anything past them, though.
Reckless idiots ... (German text says: why studying the ancient world is important)
https://twitter.com/patchcritics/status/1786271177293607207
Since Judge Juan is of a rational demeanor, I’ll be his anger translator today: “Mr. Trump, your drug-addled peabrain is obviously incapable of processing even the simplest concept. ‘Testifying’ is what one - though likely not you - does on the witness stand under oath, under penalty of perjury, What is precluded in the gag order is ‘talking out of your ass’, which is what you do in the hallway & online all fucking night, which is why you can’t stay wake in court, dickhead,”
It's really important to distinguish between Hamas, who started this war, and the citizens of Gaza, who did not, and also between the Israeli government, who responded with excessive violence, and the Israeli citizens, who may or may not support the government's decisions. People rarely make these distinctions.
Yes. Compassion for ordinary citizens, on either side, should take precedence over violence.
So I continue the courageous hunt for the Wonkmansion that we can occupy together. This is an interesting contender. It is a house that is so big that it has a kitchen and then another kitchen in case you get lost on your way back to the other kitchen and you get hungry while you’re looking for the kitchen. We could fit a lot of cats in this one is what I’m saying.
https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-house-caragh-house-prosperous-prosperous-co-kildare/5598770
Can it incorporate a burrow? For safety as one approaches aged.
It’s going to need some work. An apple orchard with 100-year-old stone building of indeterminant use for the tweeners to stake claim and put a no grown-ups allowed sign on the hole where the door would be if there was a door. And a barn with a wall full of warrens for the young Warriors that come and go by night on missions about which they do not speak. They’re also going to be responsible for managing security, so that should minimize safety issues.
I say it’s all going to depend upon the strategies. Are the vulnerable protected through the muskox technique? Are the venerable venerated? Will we have trained murder hornets? 🐝 so much has to be decided before concrete action is taken. Or concrete poured.
Judging from the looks of the sauna, would say the likelihood of a pre-existing burrow is high.
Regardless, I ain't climbing no stairs.
I’m still liking that other one better, the one with the flatland so you could drive heavy equipment around in circles without damaging anything, and we could have a vineyard.
And if I recall correctly, it was about half a million cheaper.
DOJ expected to announce indictment of Texas Democratic Rep. Cuellar
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/doj-expected-announce-indictment-texas-democratic-rep-henry-cuellar-so-rcna150567
Pro-gun, anti-abortion, corrupt DINO. Jessica Cisneros should have beaten him in the last primary, but Pelosi supported him.
F-ing Bannon gets trial for fraud delayed another 4 months. The Judge is busy in the Erection Interference trial.
https://www.newsweek.com/steve-bannon-faces-music-we-build-wall-fraud-case-1896079
Can’t lock him up - he has an election to pervert, and a Christofascist regime to install.
You got that right. All busy to burn it down with no plan for afterward. Go figure.
The plan for after is right out of Cory Doctorow's story "The Masque of the Red Death" in which his libertarian tough-guy protagonist's plans for after the apocalypse is to hunker in a bunker, but who (spoiler) winds up dying alone bc he's too selfish.
Bannon et al don't get the last bit. They would deny that it's possible....but the bunkers they plan to hide out in won't protect them as they'd like.
Plus, who will mail and deliver their social security checks? It's a problem! 🤣
Is Merchan the only judge who can preside over MAGAt trials in NYC?
IKR?
Perfection.
https://twitter.com/GaryPetersonUSA/status/1786406286587785722
It will take President Trump being back in the white house to finally give Christ Jesus the Presidential Medal of Freedom he has deserved for years.
I hope JC says, ‘You call this an award?’, then sits Cheeto down with a voluminous album chronicling every magnificent cathedral in which he has been enshrined over millennia…and wraps up by saying, ‘Top that, Burger Boy!’.