I was worried the Saint Paul City Council wasn’t going to tackle the big issues facing our city:

On a 6 to 1 vote, council members banned the [Sugar Glider, a breed of] nocturnal marsupials that hail from the South Pacific and have flaps of skin from wrists to ankles and a bit of a sweet tooth.

Although St. Paul isn’t teeming with the critters, banning their purchase, sale and ownership is a preventive measure, city officials say. The animals wouldn’t do well in this climate, and are high-maintenance, leading the city’s animal control department to fear frustrated owners would abandon their pets.

The ordinance stems from an incident in which a person was selling the animals at a trade show without a license. Animal control employees did research and found that sugar gliders take a lot of maintenance, make a lot of noise and can smell.

They haven’t actually chewed any children to death, of course; stealing candy, maybe, but again, we don’t know. 

No, the Saint Paul City Council – led by the Gang of Four Five – is getting out ahead of the plague of flying, candy-craving mini-possums because the might be difficult to handle. 

“I think they were misinformed about many things when they made their decision,” said Jeff Stein, who with his wife, Terri, breeds sugar gliders in Lino Lakes.

They have a room full of about 34 adult gliders, which sell for prices starting at $200. “They’re harmless little friendly things.”

Put “Buck Fush” T-shirts on ’em.  The Council will reconsider faster than your Sugar Glider can unwrap a Starburst.

(Via Margaret at Anti-Strib)

This entry was posted by by Mitch Berg on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 5:42 am and is filed under St. Paul. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.