Visitor Monday...Sloth Style.

Wow, Monday again. These dog days of summer are flying by, huh? 

This week we had many a typical visitor quote in regards to owning various hoof stock:

Man: "Almost got us a goat yesterday, Tammi.“

Tammi: "Glad, you did not." 

Or the one I hear probably every other day while walking the pigs…

Visitor(s): "I/Gramma/Uncle Jim/My brother’s cousin’s wife use to have one of them pigs…”

But seriously. My favorite quote of the week was inspired by Elmo, our two-toed sloth. 

During our “Life in the Trees” Show I attempted to educate visitors about sloths. 

Me:“Sloths spend about 90% of their time hanging in the treetops. And they only come down once a week to do….what?”

Visitor (super excitedly): “Lay eggs!”

I loved that. The image of tiny sloth babies hatching from eggs is just too much. 

People really like sloths. I mean, really, really like sloths. 

And, honestly, what’s not to like? Sloths actually are very cool animals. It looks awfully uncomfortable to hang from a tree branch sloth style. Yet their muscles and bones have evolved to do so quite effortlessly. 

They are the world’s slowest mammal. They move so little that in their humid rainforest environment algae actually grows on their coats, making them blend in really well with the rainforest canopy. You might say that, visually at least, they truly become one with the forest. 

Sloths do practically everything while up in a tree–eat, sleep, mate, give birth, raise their young. Yet they’ve got a little Ryan Lochte  in ‘em too. Despite their awkwardness on land, they are actually great swimmers!

And finally, your odd nature fact of the day: Sloths have such a strong grip on the tree branches with their long claws that dead sloths have been known to remain hanging posthumously. Yikes. Weird but true, my friends, weird but true. 

So, there you have it. Visitor Monday Sloth Style. Go out, be inspired by the world’s most sedentary mammal and just, well, chill for a bit. 

But first, check out our cute, little Elmo below!