They can be cuddly, they are about as smart if not smarter than dogs. However it can take some time to bond fully. We have had ours for almost a year, and 4 of the 5 will let me hold and pet them, but one still hates me. They are pack animals too, so it is best to try and get 2 or more so they have a playmate for if she is busy. Also they are nocturnal and have a kinda specific diet. We give them happy glider kibble, a wet staple, and a variety of fruits vegetables, and a little chicken every night. Technically they would be fine on kibble, and the wet staple, but I guess I am a softy and want them happy lol. They can be a rewarding pet, if the effort involved isn't too hefty. Once you get them fully bonded you can actually keep them in a hoody pocket during the day while they sleep. However when they aren't sleepy they are more playful than cuddly. I enjoy mine, but they do take more effort than I expected haha. Their fiery side is intimidating too. Our big carmel glider Atlas likes to carry plastic bracelets around with his tail, Levi (leviathan) the ringtail is HYPER, both like attention. Then there is Ares, he likes my blood hahaha oh then we have the two fat girls we haven't named them yet, they are new-ish, but they already like me more than Ares. Carmel gliders are from tasmania, and are a slightly different species than the other 4. They are supposed to be bigger, but our fat girls weigh twice his weight. So they are on a diet. We adopted them locally.

I can do everything but the nocturnal part. A cat it is.

Morphy wrote on Apr 9^th, 2021 at 4:00am:

Oh yeah, they are nocturnal, but you can just feed them before bed and they will happily play together. Ours get up around 7 or 8 and stay up until about 10 am to noon. Plus we always leave dry kibble in there, which has all of the essential nutrients to keep them alive, in case you pass out on the lazy boy haha

Slyngorm wrote on Apr 24^th, 2021 at 4:37pm:

That is actually a concept I am curious about as well. To my knowledge there is no record of it, but doesn't mean they didn't try it at least for hunting small game imo. I am curious about that too though

I think you are probably right, but I think in a skirmish with enemies closing the range a handfull of gravel to the face, if not lethal would stun foes if not blinding them, making them easier to pick off with short swords etc. I could also see it used for birds and rabbits effectively, even at modern shotgun ranges. I mean most troops who carried slings often had several slings, likely of different characteristics for various situations. So while probably not practical for lethal purposes they could have still served purposes in battle/hunting small game in my humble opinion. My goal is to find the most effective shotgun sling design I can. Speaking to my grandpa I think we have a sollution, might be more ammo focused. I am even tinkering with the thought of a capsule attached to the retention end with a few feet of cord wrapped around it, and tied to the end so once the capsule hits the end of the cord it straightens, releasing the shot contained inside, in a more directed scatter with the full throw inertia more evenly distributed. In my head it could be cool, was going to be one of my unique ammo entries actually, along with my grandpas idea, which he asked me to keep to myself until I try it lol

first time I've ever heard of sugar gliders.

Pretty long lived.

And thats what the nasty little critter in Big Buck Bunny is !
Not a flying squirrel as I thought
learn so,mething new every day

As far as historical records of shotgun slings goes.
Well historical records on slings are sparse anway.

But it's pretty safe to assume that if someone on the forum has thought of it - then our ancestors definitely thought of it.
It's only really our technology that differentiates the slings and ammo we can make from our ancestors. certainly not imagination and creativity.

It also appears that none of you have done your forum research

Shotgun slings were around about 10 years ago. And not a pouch with a handful of gravel.

basically a tube you load with ammo and when you let go of the release cord the hinged base of the tube opens.
This removes the spin imparted by a soft pouch and actually gives you the same kind of predictable spread you would get from a shotgun.

I suspect it was in matthias era - that guy made a whole bunch of stuff that's been mostly forgotten.

Probably why the pistol shot sling isn't being made by any of you serial braiders
Lead core fly fishing line as the centre of a tapered tail.
makes the slings louis pons makes sound possibly anaemic.
And i still want one !
There's a pretty cool video on here somewhere.
As well as the original shotgun sling designs and tests.

I suspect I'd even swap a distance limited glande or two for a pistol shot sling - just saying

If you spring load the trapdoor on the shotgun 'cartridge' it will also avoid any off the 'shot' hitting it on it's way out and give you a completely predictable pattern.
Hell you could even use different 'choke' settings. 

I know someone made a few and did a number of experiments with them.

right - well obviously nobody actually called them shorgun slings - that would have made life too easy.

Ah ah - it was our transylvanian friend jlasud !
https://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1357886599/18#18

And my mate gunsonwheels actually made one large enough to throw waterballoons with. 
But damned if I can find that one. I do remember it.