Please, help these gliders find a home for the New Year!

UPDATE: December 29, 2008: 12:43 a.m.

****Please, read this entire entry to ensure you have all necessary information! (the original post can be found here)****

We have additional homes in the great state of Tennessee who can offer great homes to these gliders. If you can assist in a railroad and/or a temporary foster situation - until we can move the gliders to their permanent homes, PLEASE SEND ME AN E-MAIL.

I am adding two additional maps from the Orlando, FL area to the two cities in TN. Sometimes, it just helps to have a visual. Of course, anyone working on this project must be glider-knowledgable and be fully prepared for anything that can happen along the way. Railroad volunteers should prepare themselves well in advance for the unexpected:

BE SURE YOU (and your vehicle!) ARE "ROAD-READY"
1. Travel with a backup emergency cage. Things just happen. You can't always count on the one cage to do the job. Be sure this enclosure is "escape-proof."

2. Travel with extra water bottles and bottled water.

3. Travel with a small cooler so that watery fruits can be offered to the gliders to prevent dehydration. Acceptable fruits would be: apples and seedless grapes (either red or green). Wash them well before feedling!

4. Travel with extra pouches and "glider blankies" - you never know when you'll need them!

5. Travel with a small stash of cable zip ties. They're very handy.

6. Remember, do NOT travel with the water bottles attached to the cage. You'll have water everywhere.

7. Make sure there is ADEQUATE VENTILIATION for the gliders in those pouches. I had a horrible tragedy in 2006, and I lost seven of the most incredible gliders - ever. A bit of my died that day.

8. Make FREQUENT STOPS to check on the well-being of these little pets.

9. Make sure to have the contact numbers of EACH of your partners who are also operating this railroad.

10. Lastly - MAKE SURE - that you have my contact number and e-mail address, and I will move heaven and earth to help you, if it is within my power to do so! If I can help make contacts for you, help you find the next roadside rest, hotel/motel, or even a restaurant - I'll do what I can to take some of the burden off of traveling off your shoulders. Your jobs are to ensure the safety of yourselves and the gliders!

NOTES: I'll add more items as needed!

SITUATION:
Due to a major unforeseen life event, it has become necessary to rehome several sugar glider rescues located near Orlando, Florida. All of the sugar gliders are healthy, and the males have been neutered.

Since I am involved with the All 4 Gliders Rescue Project, I decided to step up and see if I could lend a hand. I did a search of anyone who had completed the Rescue Application (from FL all the way to NC), and I reviewed each application and sent e-mails to see if those applicants were still available to lend a hand, either by offering a permanent placement, fostering, or "transportation-only" assistance. I sent out over 20 e-mails, and the response has been good. We have at least three homes able to take in these gliders on a permanent basis.

Now the trick is, how to make it happen?
We have the gliders ready to go, we have homes ready to adopt these neutered males, but we need some major intervention to get everyone lined up so the trip is as stress-free for the people and the gliders as possible.

Since I'm from the north, I'm not familiar with distance and drive times down south, but a quick Google search shows an approximate total drive-time of about 10 hours.

That's too much of a drive for anyone, and it's certainly far too long of a drive for rescue gliders. So, we need to break this trip into sections.

I'm placing the Google Map here for ease-of-reference for those involved. Our goal is to place these gliders before the first of the year, if at all possible.

For any questions, please send me an e-mail. I'll reply as soon as I possibly can.

Here's the map from Orlando, FL to Charlotte, NC:

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Orlando, FL to Wilmington, NC

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Orlando, FL to Chattanooga, TN:

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Orlando, FL to Clarksville, TN:

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