sloths move so slowly that even algae can grow on them. they mostly move at a groundbreaking speed of 0.5-1 feet per minute. sloths only move when necessary, and they sometimes die and still continue to hang from trees. their claws also provide an unexpected defense from human hunters - when hanging upside-down in a tree they are held in place by the claws themselves and do not fall down even if shot from below, thus making them not worth shooting in the first place. infant sloths normally cling to their mother's fur, but occasionally fall off. in some cases they die from the fall indirectly because the mothers sometimes prove unwilling to leave the safety of the trees to retrieve them.



that couldn't have been a very difficult still-shot to take. anyway, the above passage has amused me to no end. i swear it's funnier than any joke i've heard this year, i was seriously laughing my ass off. for a more detailed description of sloths and their lifestyles, please click here.