Please Release Me. We Gotta Get Out of This Place. I'm Going Home.

 

Today's Multiple Choice Quiz

What has blonde hair?

Wears a fur coat?

Has a cute, turned up pink nose?

Gets aggressive when agitated?

Has long fingernails that they are very proud of?

Is very particular about their diet and weight?

Defecates once a week?

Select your answer from below

1) A sloth

                                          

2) A Jewish American Princess

3) Vladimir Putin

a) 1.

b) 2.

c) 3.

d) 1.& 2.

e) 1.& 3.

f) 2.& 3.

g) 1.,2.,& 3.

_________________________________________________________

Correct answer d). Half marks for c).

How did you score?

Here's what goes on at a Sloth Rescue Center -

Day begins at 5:45 with the boiling of the vegetables that had been carefully sliced and chopped the previous evening. The vegetables used are carrots, chiote, and green beans. Each vegetable is cut into strips measuring 1/4 " by 3". We boil them to soften them up. They also eat papaya, green  mango, banana, and apples. 

Each of the sloths, Apollo. Chronos, Thor, Lucy, Iggy, Coffee, Cacao, Bellarix, Texas, Tiger, Zain, Makena, Alejandro, Jenny, etc. have their meals weighed down to the gram. They are fed in the morning in small steel bowls. We recover the previous day's bowls in order to weigh the amounts of food not eaten each day on a sloth by sloth basis. In the case of a meal consisting of mixed veggies, we separate each vegetable to determine the specific eating habits of each animal. In the event that one of them defecates AND urinates, the sloth is reweighed to record it's change. Meticulous daily records are kept, monitoring weight change, eating habits, and appetite development. 

Following the feeding we babysit. Each sloth is removed from its cage and placed in the branches of a low tree. 

Purpose being to train them for their eventual release to a natural habitat. Some take well to the activities, others less so. Each sloth is given three attempts to remain in the tree. Once they hit three strikes, they are returned to their cages. 

No one, I think is in my tree. I mean, it must be high or low.

One of the sloths, Lucy (no diamonds), is ready to be returned to nature and has been living in a tall tree. In the two weeks that we have been here, nobody has seen her. A basket of food is hauled up daily and recovered the next day. Often there is what I believe to be a thank you note in the basket but unfortunately nobody here reads sloth.

A second feeding happens in the afternoon. Having boiled a new batch of vegetables, we return to their cages, remove the uneaten food, replenish the branches of leaves brought in the previous day and then take a couple of hours off. At the end of each day, we provide a little snack to them, usually a piece of cucumber, spinach, or papaya. 

There are four stages of development in their progression. Initially the animals are kept in small cages inside the veterinarian area. 

                                           

                                                  Raquel, our head vet

Each sloth has a stuffed animal that they become very attached to, literally and physically. It is a maternal replacement.

It is not easy removing the pillow from their grasp. 

For little creatures they have remarkable strength. Sloths weigh much less than people assume. A full grown one weighs fifteen kilos. Their bones, like those of birds, are hollow. And they are more clingy than an incel. 

As they age they are transferred to larger cages. 

Next step is providing them with an exterior pen. The last stage, once they've mastered tree climbing, feeding themselves, and stopping to cry for their mothers, they are released into national parks. 

The success rate of the teams is quite high. Most of the sloths ultimately get released. But a phone call? A post card? A birthday wish? Fuggetaboudit.