A few days ago, I went with my husband to visit some houses he needed to look at as possible film locations. One of them had a huge garden, and in one of the trees, there was this friend.
Its scientific name is Folivora, but they are commonly known as Pereza. In English, it is called Sloth. And they are native to Central and South America. Have you ever seen one?
It is not the first time I have seen one. In the tropical rainforests around Caracas, there are many sloths. And it is not unusual to see one from time to time in an area of the city like where the house we visited is.
Some years ago, in one of the trees in front of our building, a Sloth lived for some time. My son was small at the time, and he used to call her Teresa, the Sloth (Teresa la Pereza).
Every time we went out of the house, we looked up at the tree, and there was Teresa the Sloth. But one day, one of the branches broke, and the Sloth fell. And the building admin called the fire brigade to rescue her.
I think they look cute, and I love to see them. But they can be a danger if they are near a road where cars are passing. A friend of the family once had an accident with a sloth that dented the whole bonnet of his car when it fell off when the branch of the tree it was hanging from broke.
Sloths love to spend their time hanging from trees with their heads down.
These mammals are known to be the laziest of mammals. They move very slowly and come down from the trees once a week to relieve themselves. And they don't need to do it more often because even in their digestive processes, these animals are lazy.
This one, which we saw a few days ago, was eating very quietly. Sloths feed mainly on leaves. They move very slowly.
Some species of sloths have two claws, and others have three. This one, from what I could read, must be three-clawed because it has a white spot on its face. One characteristic of sloths is that they always seem to be smiling.
Our friend decided to climb more through the tree. So I took the chance to take a little video with which I made this gif.
Another curiosity is that they regulate their body temperature like cold-blooded animals such as reptiles. And that is why they are so slow in their movements.
So if you come here one day, don't be surprised to see one of these unique wild animals hanging from a tree.
Thank you very much for reading.
