As most people already know, I am obsessed with sloths. So I
have decided to enlighten you all on why I feel sloths are worth loving and
obsessing over. Not only are they super cute… obviously…
But they also are very interesting as well. Below are just a few interesting facts most people do not know about sloths (mostly because they are
one of the most stereotyped animals).
1. Sloths cannot walk – they can only use their
legs and arms to drag their bodies across the ground.
2. Sloths are amazing swimmers. They have adapted
to swimming because most sloths will fall into water or crawl into water when
defending themselves from predators (or just because they are clumsy, broke their branch and fell
out of a tree).
3. Sloths only urinate and defecate once a week
when they are grown. The younger sloths can go up to three weeks without
urinating or defecating. They also go to
the same exact spot every time they need to go to the bathroom, which makes them more vulnerable to their predators.
4. Sloths are extremely solitary creatures. They
only gather when it is time to mate and after that they will not be around one
another (this means they are very young when their mothers leave them).
5. Sloths are nocturnal animals and contrary to
believe, they only sleep for about 10 hours a day – NOT 24 hours a day.
6. Wild sloths have the tendency to grow algae on
their fur to camouflage themselves from their predators – this is actually one of the only
ways to defend themselves from predators.
7. Sloths are EXTREMELY strong animals. If you ever
attend a sloth encounter, like myself, you are not allowed to hold them because
they will not let go of a branch or in this case a human unless it is
voluntary. Not only are they strong when they are alive, but they also maintain
their grip after they have passed away (in other words, they just keep
hanging).
8. Three toed sloths are similar to owls, they can
turn their heads almost a complete 360 degrees.
9. They only move at about 3 meters per minutes…
which is slow but not as slow as what people assume.
Are you convinced that sloths are worth loving and obsessing over yet? If not, by the end of this semester you might be but until then you can watch a valid representation of how much I love sloths through this video of Kristen Bell having a full-fledged panic attack (in a good way) over her first sloth encounter.
I love your obsession with sloths. It's really interesting to learn about them because they only became popular within the last few years. I wonder what animal will become popular next. I'm sure it helps with awareness when they go viral. I remember going to the natural history part of the Cincinnati Museum and seeing a giant sloth. Those would honestly be scary to encounter if they were still that big. Is it true that some sloths fall to their death because they mistake their own arm for a branch?
ReplyDeleteIt is so interesting to learn about sloths. I honestly do not know if I knew any of the facts you shared about them. I think it would be such a cool experience to encounter a sloth in person, to get to see how they look and move...amazing! I am almost as obsessed with elephants as you are with sloths. I can relate these two because sloths seems to be very strong and independent. Elephants are the same way. I am excited to learn so much more about sloths this semester!
ReplyDeleteI used to be completely obsessed with sloths too; I was even googling how much it would cost to own one and constantly sent pictures to my friends. I once drew a huge charcoal sloth in high school for an art project, which turned out incredibly cute. I still like to think I would have the same exact reaction as Kristin Bell if I ever got to meet a sloth in person; I will be seriously disappointed if I never meet one.
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