Sloths: 9 things to know

Wild Florida animal experts made a visit to the Channel 9 studios Thursday and they brought one of their furry friends, Aerie the sloth.

Here are nine things you may not know about sloths: 

1. Although they can see in color, sloths’ eyesight and hearing are not very strong; they mainly use their sense of touch.

2. Despite their name, sloths only sleep about 10 hours a day.

3. A sloth’s limbs are designed for suspending the body rather than supporting it, which makes them completely helpless on the ground unless they have something to grasp. Even then, they are able only to drag themselves along with their claws.

4. Sloths are (surprisingly) good swimmers.

5. A sloth’s stomach is constantly filled, making up about 30 percent of the its weight.

6. Sloths are solitary and are aggressive toward others of the same sex.

7. Although two-toed sloths can climb and position themselves vertically, they spend almost all of their time hanging horizontally. They use their hook-like claws to move to different branches.

8. Three-toed sloths move in the same way, but often sit in the forks of trees rather than hanging from branches.

9. Sloths descend to the ground at about 60-day intervals.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica

Editor's Note: Wild Florida is an advertiser with WFTV

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