WTF. It's slow, half-blind, half-deaf, and more often than not asleep. It shits on the ground in the same exact spot, forever. Why isn't everything in the Costa Rican jungle eating one for breakfast? posted by danny the boy at 1:56 PM on December 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
I actually know the lady who made this! She came to do documentary stuff at the field site I was studying monkeys at a few years ago in Peru. She was hilarious and awesome and very much in love with amphibians. And very brave when a horrible bullet ant fell into her shirt. I wish I was somewhere where I could stream video, because holy crap, there are few things I love more than baby sloths! posted by ChuraChura at 1:57 PM on December 14, 2011
That place is awesome! I got to pet a sloth. But not the babies. You can't pet the babies. posted by flaterik at 2:06 PM on December 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
want want want to volunteer at the sanctuary. now just hugging one doesn't seem like enough. *adds to bucket list posted by fuzzypantalones at 2:18 PM on December 14, 2011
I showed this to my grade 11 biology class today, they loved it. posted by sarae at 2:19 PM on December 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
Argh! Sloths are just too damn cute. They're not fair. posted by lumpenprole at 2:20 PM on December 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
How does an animal with huge claws manage to be so adorable? posted by Panjandrum at 2:21 PM on December 14, 2011
Why isn't everything in the Costa Rican jungle eating one for breakfast?
Heheh, I almost plotzed when I watched the trailer. At 0:49 you can see two baby sloths in their cute little sloth onesies! Aaaaaaagh the cute! posted by darkstar at 3:41 PM on December 14, 2011
LOL, and now I've just noticed the title of this post. :D posted by darkstar at 3:42 PM on December 14, 2011
Volunteering there is actually something I've been seriously considering for some upcoming time off. All reports from former volunteers have been very positive (I quite like this one). Except I did come across one report that gave me pause, from one of the writers for the excellent Moon Guides, here.
WTF. It's slow, half-blind, half-deaf, and more often than not asleep. It shits on the ground in the same exact spot, forever. Why isn't everything in the Costa Rican jungle eating one for breakfast?
Yes, but do you know how slow? This is the sentence that grabbed me when I was looking into the critters:
They can move at a marginally higher speed if they are in immediate danger from a predator (4 m or 13 feet per minute for the three-toed sloth), but they burn large amounts of energy doing so.
Yes, at a high metabolic cost, they can put on a burst of speed to evade predators: 4m/minute. Which means they're evading something that moves... 3m/minute? posted by Durn Bronzefist at 3:47 PM on December 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
This video is essentially getting me through finals. The Animal Planet show debuts the day I get home-I'm interpreting this as a personal reward to me from the universe. posted by MadamM at 3:48 PM on December 14, 2011
Ah, the videos demonstrate the speed rather well. It's not quite time-lapse-necessary. posted by Durn Bronzefist at 3:49 PM on December 14, 2011
Win. (But surprised they don't do damage to their faces with the claws.) posted by Glinn at 6:06 PM on December 14, 2011
I was surprised to hear Sir David Attenborough's pronounciation of sloth. Is that a UK pronounciation? posted by saucysault at 7:54 PM on December 14, 2011
On a trip to Costa Rica last summer I had the opportunity to see several sloths. The locals told us that despite their cute appearance, sloths in the wild are carriers of many diseases and probably shouldn't be touched. I can't find any corroboration of that online though.
When going on a tour of the canopy with a couple others from my group, one of our guides spotted a sloth with a baby clinging to it about twenty feet above us. "Perezoso" he said as he pointed it out to me (Spanish for lazy). He waited for the rest of the group to come across the line and demonstrated a unique skill. He made an incredibly accurate imitation of an eagle's cry and we watched the poor mother flip the hell out. Of course in sloth terms this meant clinging tighter to the tree and looking around a bit - much more than you will usually see them do. posted by Elminster of Labor at 1:07 AM on December 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 1:18 PM on December 14, 2011