In real life Mario lives in Tennessee with Willie and Willie's family. Mario is a widower, his wife used to be in the circus but died several years ago He has free rein of the place and would be insulted if he had to live in a cage. Here at Thursdays he still has free rein of the place and can be quite helpful when not being a little imp. Willie had a video of Mario playing with her Grandson a year or so back. It was great.