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Three toed sloth cartoon

The three toad sloth with extra suction

Sloths are probably the closest looking real life cartoon in existence. After drawing this cartoon, I had to do a bit more research on this wonderful mammal. Here are some things you might’t know about the humble sloth.

  • They are so slow moving that algae grows on their fur – Well I joke partially, but it does help them stay camouflaged in the tree top homes.
  • There are both two toed and three toed sloths, but both have long claws up to 10cm in length, which they use to grip to tree branches.
  • Sloths once were as large as elephants…but that was thousands of years ago and these types have been extinct for over 10,000 years.
  • It can take up to a month for a sloth to digest it’s meal. Their leaf diet is hard to break down and they rely on stomach bacteria to help the process along.

So what’s your favourite animal?

1280px-MC_Drei-Finger-Faultier

Credit Wiki Commons: Drei Finger Faultier

 

 

9 Comments

  • Shirley says:

    Hi There

    Gotta be an Owl, I find that their eyes and the way they sit and don’t move a muscle, and stare intrigues me. They are a beautiful bird in all their forms.

    • Marti says:

      I love birds too and white owls are particularly spectacular. Good choice. I thought you might have gone for a native NZ animal.

  • Jen Martin says:

    Gorgeous cartoon and I love sloths!!!! My favourite animal? Much too hard to nail down just one. Generally species I’ve either studied (so know in-depth), or species I’ve travelled a long way to find or had to invest a lot of time/ energy searching for! Things like the thorny devil, scaly-tailed possum, monjon, green python, buff-breasted paradise kingfisher, yellow kingfisher, spotted cuscus, golden-backed tree rat, striped possum etc etc 🙂

    • Marti says:

      Wow…too many and I’m showing my ignorance when I admit to having to Google half of them. I like the way your choice reflects the amount of effort put into that particular animal – me, I’m a bit of a softy for fluffy and cute – makes deciding easier.

  • Jen Martin says:

    It’s hard to go past a spotted cuscus for fluffy and cute 🙂

  • sjvernon says:

    Seems like that is technically a six-toad sloth there! 🙂

    As for my favorite… I guess I’m simple and like dogs… but if I expand to non-pet animals… I like some frogs, especially those bright-colored ones, even if they usually are poisonous!

    • Marti says:

      I’m a dog lover too. We own two golden retrievers – blonde, hairy and beautiful.

      Frogs – they are pretty cool. When I think frog, I think of the corroboree frog because I did a science study into it way back in high school and I loved the colour of it – shiny black and yellow – no camouflage happening with that frog, unless it’s hiding in a bowl of liquorice all sorts!

      • sjvernon says:

        There’s that one they recently discovered, apparently, that looks a lot like Kermit! That one looked particularly cute.

  • seeker says:

    Sloths will love you to death, slow death by hanging on to you. Saw a YouTube on this one. What’s my fav, hmmm… that’s a tough one. Love dog’s but can’t have one in the residence. Love Hummers but they are way to fast for me to pet them. Soooo…. I ended with cats not because I love them, but they need love. What can I say.

    Wouldn’t that be awesome if they have painted nails?