Another is to raise awareness of the need to install metal “cones” on the guide wires leading up to electrical transporters — the transformers have thousands of volts of electricity going through them and if a sloth climbs up the guide wires and touches the transformer, the sloth may be killed or suffer severe burns on their hands and feet. Any one can make the cones — just buy relatively thin sheets of metal and cut them in circles of about 8 inches diameter, and then cut a straight line to the center, and bend it into a cone. Our local electrical provider said people do not need permission to install cones on the guide wires — but they do need permission from the electrical company is they want to put cones on the wooden posts because the company’s technicians need to be able to climb the poles for repairs. We have found that sloths don’t climb the poles, but the electrical company said that monkeys and squirrels do sometimes. But our monkeys do not go near the electrical lines. But we installed the cones on the guide wires after a sloth was killed by touching the transformer on a neighbor’s property.

And they are not lazy. They are just the best energy conservationists and tai chi masters of the jungle.

This is lovely Claudia! Do you mind if we share it on our FB page? Thank you! Thank you!

SLOTH

It seems the sloth is very slow
It’s good he hasn’t far to go

He’ll pick a tree and call it home
Just up and down is all he’ll roam

He’ll hang around, (they don’t move much)
it’s true, they do not keep in touch

Just once a week he will emerge
it’s when he gets the urge to purge

Down he will go to poop and pee
right at the bottom of his tree.

The other time he leaves his bower
is for a bath (he doesn’t shower)

He’ll drop, kerplop, right from a limb,
into a stream, to take a swim

In water he will move with ease
more swiftly than he can in trees

And with peculiar super power
he’ll hold his breath for half an hour!

Back in the tree to rest awhile
And on his face a pleasing smile

Regardless if two-toed or three
The sloth is happy in his tree

Relaxed, sedate and full of charm
His stillness keeps him safe from harm

To predators he doesn’t show
It serves him well to move so slow

He sleeps, he eats, he sleeps some more
way up above the forest floor

Up in a palm, curled in a ball
His curvy claws prevent a fall

He’s quite serene, his eyes are shut
He looks just like a coconut

Suspended, hanging upside down
His head can twist to see the ground

Up in the tree he’ll snooze and scratch
his fur’s a thick and hairy thatch

This thatch can grow a cast of green
that helps him keep from being seen

Along with algae there are moths
that find a home aboard the sloths

The ecosystem in his coat
informs this quirky anecdote

Regardless if three-toed or two
The sloth seems happy, never blue

Nobody’d say he’s ADD
or type A personality

His disposition’s very sweet
It’s like he’s at a Zen retreat

I think we all could take a page
The sloth, it turns out, is a sage

He’s so efficient, ounce for ounce
He’s making sure each moment counts.

–Claudia Rose 9/27/16
elevenclouds@gmail.com