Today is International Sloth Day! To celebrate this odd critter we have an amazing poem.

Listen to this post as a podcast by our favorite kid narrator, Pranamya.

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Not Just a Sleepy Sloth

By, Cathy Jeannotte

I’m a super-sloth and I’m a little slow and sleepy, 

but there’s a lot more to sloth-ing than just being crawly creepy.

Sure, I don’t rush around,

there’s nowhere I have to go.

But if we’re talking sloth life, there’s some things you ought to know.

I’m a three-toed sloth but some sloths have only two.

We each have two fingers, a lot less than you.

Another difference between us,

scientists have found,

is that we can turn our heads almost completely right around!

We sloths are underrated and sometimes misunderstood.

You might think our life is boring but really it’s quite good.

We spend a lot of time in trees, hours and hours it’s true.

In the wild we sleep nine hours a day, quite similar to you.

It’s hard to walk along the ground when you have claws as long as mine.

But for climbing trees and clinging, they really work out fine.

The Rainy season in the Amazon really helps us stay unseen,

when the algae in our fur camouflages us in green.

There’s one more thing about us that may make you say, ‘eek!’

We leave the trees to use the bathroom,

about once a week.

About the Author

Cathy Jeannotte is from Northern England where it rains cats and dogs and sometimes even frogs. She’s been chatting with animals since she was young and loves to share their stories. Cathy lives with her husband and four children in Toronto, Canada, where she has added beavers, bears and racoons to her growing list of friends.

Let’s celebrate the Sloth today! Tell us what you think about this amazing creature in the comments section!