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Rescuing a tiny squirrel glider

Friday, November 10, 2017

In mid August 2015 a call came from an environmental officer who was working on the Pacific Highway upgrade at Halfway Creek, south of Grafton. He had heard little grunting sounds coming from a hollow in an old tree that had been felled during clearing and rescued a tiny squirrel glider from a termite nest within the hollow.

When the little glider was delivered to one of our carers he weighed in at only 26 g. The chances of survival for this species are not great at this size, especially as he was alone. He was all legs and tail but fortunately he was healthy, and despite his small size and closed eyes, he took to lapping milk from a spoon straight away. Ideally he would have been ‘buddied’ with another squirrel glider but no others had come into care.

He began to thrive and quickly transformed from this gawky little form and by November was big enough to move to a bigger enclsosure where he could gain his strength and hone his gliding skills.

Unable to be returned to his place of origin, due to the works in progress, suitable habitat was identified at a nearby property. The eucalypt woodland was adjacent to the forest area where the squirrel glider was rescued and provides plenty of food trees, nesting hollows and hopefully potential mates.