Today's special animal friend is the Brown-throated sloth, Bradypus variegatus. This really cute, arboreal mammal is found in forests in Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) and South America (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru). Here is a short video of one in Panama. If you watch closely, you will see her baby's head or limb as it rests on her chest.
Brown-throated sloths are the most numerous species of three-toed sloths. These sloths have three toes on their front feet and three toes on their back feet, while two-toed sloths have two in front and three in back. Males and females are very similar, but their size varies depending on habitat. Adult length ranges from 17 to 31 inches, weight from 5 lbs. (small cat) to 14 lbs. (quite large cat). Their claws are strong and curved, about 2 inches long on the rear feet and 3 inches on the front. They have a short tail, small head, and small ears. A male has a black stripe and some orange fur on its back.
The long hairs of the sloth do not have a medulla, the core found in most animal hair. The outside cuticle is full of microscopic cracks which allow for the growth of several species of algae. The sloth's coat also harbors a variety of fungi, some of which have anti-biotic, anti-cancer, or anti-parasitic properties.
Brown-throated sloths are solitary except during mating. Females emit a loud cry to attract males, who sometimes fight for access to a receptive female. Gestation is about seven months, and the female gives birth to a single infant whose fur and claws are already developed. The young sloth is weaned in about four weeks, but it continues to cling to its mother for up to four months. It learns to eat leaves by eating bits of food from around its mother's mouth. Although the sloths are generalist herbivores, most individuals prefer certain tree species and may get 20% of their food from a single tree.
These animals sleep 15 to 18 hours per day and are active in brief intervals either in day or night. They can walk on the ground and swim, but almost all their time is spent in trees. A sloth will descend about once every eight days to pass waste on the ground. The sloth moth, Cryptoses choloepi, lives in the sloth's fur and lays its eggs in their dung. Because of their very slow metabolism, designed for a nutrient-poor diet, the sloths can take up to a month to digest a meal.
Brown-throated sloths are a species of least concern to IUCN. Natural predators include harpy eagles and jaguars. Habitat loss and auto impacts also affect the population in some areas. Their lifespan in the wild is between 30 and 40 years. It is difficult to keep them in captivity outside their native range because of their preference for tropical leaves. The Dallas World Aquarium Zoo is successfully feeding one on cecropia foliage.
Mallorca is a cyclist's dream destination. I hope to go one day. Back at the lake for a few days with just my husband....that's a rarity! We decided to avoid the Labor Day rush and instead come Tuesday. The weather is perfect.
Good morning. Back from vacation, only to find the grass, instead of growing, is even more brown than when I left almost 2 weeks ago. Temps this morning in the 50s, to rise to the 80s.
The mothership is reporting on the economic woes of the People’s Republic (which they call simply “China” as though Taiwan doesn’t have a share in that name). The Front Page asks, “When will Iran get the Bomb?”
Leaf bombs produce an awful lot of collateral damage, especially if they aren't *smart* leaf bombs. Best reign in those trees before the Save the Grass protesters show up and build an encampment or something and start chanting From the house to the sidewalk!!
They think Iran developing a Nuke means it will become a responsible adult. Sort of like buying your 16 yo a sports car...They'll take care of it 'cause it is nice! 🤦♂️
Actually, I'm just projecting their rationale here. Who knows why they think it is a good idea.
So. A bridge on an island in a cave now underwater. I don't see much mystery. It's obvious to me that this is a case of some early Alaskans having offshored some prototyping work...
Well, including the cost of the $11M Tunnel to Nowhere under the airport runway to connect the airport to the Road to Nowhere, the taxpayers got screwed for at least $39M, not counting whatever was spent on the planning and design for the Bridge to Nowhere that ultimately went... nowhere.
So. Where is it written that prostitution is a victimless crime like all the Libertarian types keep claiming? Kidding. Sort of. Well, not that much, actually, when the politicians start pimping for projects like this.
We’re getting a road expansion (US rte) from two lanes to three (center turning lane) that has been in planning about 15 years. Federal requirements for the federally funded project drive cost overruns and delays, one after another. They have to do study after study, hold public hearing after hearing.
They counted traffic flows for reports. They did wetland surveys for reports on the impacts on federally protected wetlands (we’re part of the Chesapeake watershed). They put a microphone in my yard to assess the environmental noise impact of the current road for a report on possible noise pollution effects. They held public hearings—quite informative, in fact. They did studies on expanding it to a five lane—much too costly because of how many individual homeowners they would have had to buy out. They funded moving the public utilities, which was necessary for gas, water, electrical, phone/cable.
This summer they got most of the property owner lawsuits resolved, awarded the contracts, and started construction. But it’s no wonder these projects exceed any rational sense of budgetary efficiency by orders of magnitude.
Sounds like someone should have put our governor's (alias Big Gretch) original campaign slogan in these guys ears:
"Just fix the damn roads!"
Which they are now doing with a vengeance in these parts. So much road work going on that it's only a matter of time before there'll be a case of "You can't get there from here."
A microphone in your yard? Hoo, boy! I wish they'd put one in *my* yard. I'd give 'em some *noise* to assess.
At least the resurfacing projects are state/local matters—here, at least. Those make seasonal progress as usual, without needing to meet the federal rules and reg standards for significant changes to existing US roadways.
I forgot to mention: they had to do socioeconomic analyses to make sure the road change wouldn’t disadvantage the socioeconomically disadvantaged. But we’re a rural county with an elderly declining population (most of whom seem to drive up and down the road in increasing frequency). Any road improvements are mostly beneficial to the locals. We scarcely have any minorities, especially not along the route.
But regardless of the blindingly obvious facts on the ground, the federal rules and regs for road construction absolutely must be checked off the list, one presumes also so that engineering and consulting firms get paid, lawyers are hired and their kids put through school… One federal agency gums up the works for another federal agency to implement congressionally mandated plans on the books for years.
On the other hand, in the past, they just railroaded everything, like they once did with the actual railroads way back in the Lincoln administration. There weren’t quite as many outstretched palms of “stakeholders” to grease along the way.
I agree. And they, like us, (well, most of us) evolved. Perhaps 5,000 years ago, someone pointed out that building a bridge in a cave didn't make a whole lot of sense and suggested building a bridge across a river. "Can't we strive for more than just walking from one side of the cave to the other? Also, I keep banging my head."
Testing the links on this TSAF.
Today's special animal friend is the Brown-throated sloth, Bradypus variegatus. This really cute, arboreal mammal is found in forests in Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) and South America (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru). Here is a short video of one in Panama. If you watch closely, you will see her baby's head or limb as it rests on her chest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RmWDME5lns
Brown-throated sloths are the most numerous species of three-toed sloths. These sloths have three toes on their front feet and three toes on their back feet, while two-toed sloths have two in front and three in back. Males and females are very similar, but their size varies depending on habitat. Adult length ranges from 17 to 31 inches, weight from 5 lbs. (small cat) to 14 lbs. (quite large cat). Their claws are strong and curved, about 2 inches long on the rear feet and 3 inches on the front. They have a short tail, small head, and small ears. A male has a black stripe and some orange fur on its back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dca8Cv-xtrU
The long hairs of the sloth do not have a medulla, the core found in most animal hair. The outside cuticle is full of microscopic cracks which allow for the growth of several species of algae. The sloth's coat also harbors a variety of fungi, some of which have anti-biotic, anti-cancer, or anti-parasitic properties.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnNDwO8I8Fk
Brown-throated sloths are solitary except during mating. Females emit a loud cry to attract males, who sometimes fight for access to a receptive female. Gestation is about seven months, and the female gives birth to a single infant whose fur and claws are already developed. The young sloth is weaned in about four weeks, but it continues to cling to its mother for up to four months. It learns to eat leaves by eating bits of food from around its mother's mouth. Although the sloths are generalist herbivores, most individuals prefer certain tree species and may get 20% of their food from a single tree.
These animals sleep 15 to 18 hours per day and are active in brief intervals either in day or night. They can walk on the ground and swim, but almost all their time is spent in trees. A sloth will descend about once every eight days to pass waste on the ground. The sloth moth, Cryptoses choloepi, lives in the sloth's fur and lays its eggs in their dung. Because of their very slow metabolism, designed for a nutrient-poor diet, the sloths can take up to a month to digest a meal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFziSm-VPqI
Brown-throated sloths are a species of least concern to IUCN. Natural predators include harpy eagles and jaguars. Habitat loss and auto impacts also affect the population in some areas. Their lifespan in the wild is between 30 and 40 years. It is difficult to keep them in captivity outside their native range because of their preference for tropical leaves. The Dallas World Aquarium Zoo is successfully feeding one on cecropia foliage.
https://dwazoo.com/animal/brown-throated-three-toed-sloth/
That IS interesting. Our species 6,000 years ago: Tools R Us.
1) Thank you for the map. Other than being somewhere off (some) coast of Spain, I couldn't have put my finger on it.
2) Re: goat-antelope known as Myotragus balearicus
Is this another opportunity to expand our discussion of barbecue options to an international level? Or perhaps barbacoa in Español.
Mallorca is a cyclist's dream destination. I hope to go one day. Back at the lake for a few days with just my husband....that's a rarity! We decided to avoid the Labor Day rush and instead come Tuesday. The weather is perfect.
Less crowded alternative:
https://youtu.be/Jby39zzxcS8?si=O3oWhZG0FqtvS-JV
😄
Gorgeous!
Good morning. Back from vacation, only to find the grass, instead of growing, is even more brown than when I left almost 2 weeks ago. Temps this morning in the 50s, to rise to the 80s.
The mothership is reporting on the economic woes of the People’s Republic (which they call simply “China” as though Taiwan doesn’t have a share in that name). The Front Page asks, “When will Iran get the Bomb?”
Perhaps a more pertinent question is "When will Iran get bombed"?
There was a song once, during the 1979 hostage crisis:
"Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach boys's "Barbara Ann"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8hEtI9AI0U
I remember that.
John McCain sang that, years later, on a hot mic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7s5pT3Rris
Hope you had a good vacation. We are in the 50s overnight/70 days era and the leaves are starting to turn.
Some of my trees are dropping leaves because of the lack of rain, but no color.
We’re having drought-induced foliage dropping here, too. So much dead lawn…
Temps in the 80s are out of the forecast for the time being.
RE: "foliage dropping" and "So much dead lawn..."
Leaf bombs produce an awful lot of collateral damage, especially if they aren't *smart* leaf bombs. Best reign in those trees before the Save the Grass protesters show up and build an encampment or something and start chanting From the house to the sidewalk!!
Why does the United States government support a nuclear armed Iran? I feel like we've had this exact conversation.
'Cause Obama-Biden-Harris are dumb.
They think Iran developing a Nuke means it will become a responsible adult. Sort of like buying your 16 yo a sports car...They'll take care of it 'cause it is nice! 🤦♂️
Actually, I'm just projecting their rationale here. Who knows why they think it is a good idea.
"for whatever reasons folks had for building bridges in caves"
It was probably a government program. "Give Og's nephew contract!"
So. A bridge on an island in a cave now underwater. I don't see much mystery. It's obvious to me that this is a case of some early Alaskans having offshored some prototyping work...
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/how-bridge-nowhere-became-road-nowhere/2015/11/17/
> The […] road […] features wide shoulders and sweeping curves to handle the large volume of traffic the road was expected to see one day. <
*squints* Hold on there, fellas: Is this a road or a, uh, lady of the night?
Well, including the cost of the $11M Tunnel to Nowhere under the airport runway to connect the airport to the Road to Nowhere, the taxpayers got screwed for at least $39M, not counting whatever was spent on the planning and design for the Bridge to Nowhere that ultimately went... nowhere.
So. Where is it written that prostitution is a victimless crime like all the Libertarian types keep claiming? Kidding. Sort of. Well, not that much, actually, when the politicians start pimping for projects like this.
We’re getting a road expansion (US rte) from two lanes to three (center turning lane) that has been in planning about 15 years. Federal requirements for the federally funded project drive cost overruns and delays, one after another. They have to do study after study, hold public hearing after hearing.
They counted traffic flows for reports. They did wetland surveys for reports on the impacts on federally protected wetlands (we’re part of the Chesapeake watershed). They put a microphone in my yard to assess the environmental noise impact of the current road for a report on possible noise pollution effects. They held public hearings—quite informative, in fact. They did studies on expanding it to a five lane—much too costly because of how many individual homeowners they would have had to buy out. They funded moving the public utilities, which was necessary for gas, water, electrical, phone/cable.
This summer they got most of the property owner lawsuits resolved, awarded the contracts, and started construction. But it’s no wonder these projects exceed any rational sense of budgetary efficiency by orders of magnitude.
Sounds like someone should have put our governor's (alias Big Gretch) original campaign slogan in these guys ears:
"Just fix the damn roads!"
Which they are now doing with a vengeance in these parts. So much road work going on that it's only a matter of time before there'll be a case of "You can't get there from here."
A microphone in your yard? Hoo, boy! I wish they'd put one in *my* yard. I'd give 'em some *noise* to assess.
At least the resurfacing projects are state/local matters—here, at least. Those make seasonal progress as usual, without needing to meet the federal rules and reg standards for significant changes to existing US roadways.
I forgot to mention: they had to do socioeconomic analyses to make sure the road change wouldn’t disadvantage the socioeconomically disadvantaged. But we’re a rural county with an elderly declining population (most of whom seem to drive up and down the road in increasing frequency). Any road improvements are mostly beneficial to the locals. We scarcely have any minorities, especially not along the route.
But regardless of the blindingly obvious facts on the ground, the federal rules and regs for road construction absolutely must be checked off the list, one presumes also so that engineering and consulting firms get paid, lawyers are hired and their kids put through school… One federal agency gums up the works for another federal agency to implement congressionally mandated plans on the books for years.
On the other hand, in the past, they just railroaded everything, like they once did with the actual railroads way back in the Lincoln administration. There weren’t quite as many outstretched palms of “stakeholders” to grease along the way.
“This looks like a white elephant!”
“What’s an elephant?”
“Think: albino wooly mammoth.”
That is quite good!
I generally assume our ancient ancestors were as socially sophisticated as ourselves.
The Far Side would agree...
Perhaps more so, since they didn’t have TV or social media.
I agree. And they, like us, (well, most of us) evolved. Perhaps 5,000 years ago, someone pointed out that building a bridge in a cave didn't make a whole lot of sense and suggested building a bridge across a river. "Can't we strive for more than just walking from one side of the cave to the other? Also, I keep banging my head."
Excellent point. Maybe it was a prototype of a bridge-across-something. Maybe it had a "ritual purpose."
RE: prototype
See explanation above.
Perhaps a bridge over troubled waters?
Nice try.