Around The World In 80 Waves

There are loads of sloths in this area. Just like the customs people here they don’t do a great deal.

As much as two-thirds of a well-fed sloth’s body-weight consists of the contents of its stomach, and the digestive process can take a month or more to complete. The leaves they eat provide little energy, and sloths deal with this by a range of economy measures. They have very low metabolic rates (less than half of that expected for a mammal of their size), and maintain low body temperatures when active (30–34 °C or 86–93 °F), and still lower temperatures when resting.

Sloths move only when necessary and even then very slowly. They have about a quarter as much muscle tissue as other animals of similar weight. They can move at a marginally higher speed if they are in immediate danger from a predator (4 m per minute), but they burn large amounts of energy doing so. Their specialised hands and feet have long, curved claws to allow them to hang upside-down from branches without effort.

While they occasionally sit on top of branches, they usually eat, sleep, and even give birth hanging from limbs. They sometimes remain hanging from the branches after death.

In a similar vein I am expecting to be found slumped over my keyboard when the notice that the customs process is finished has arrived.