Sloths are commonly perceived as creatures of laziness; in a satirical fashion, of course. However, their lifestyle is rather eventful in some cases. In modern-day society, they can be seen hanging from the power lines along the roads in Costa Rica picking food off of the trees along the mountain-side. Though most of the time, they’re hidden hanging in the tree branches or sleeping in the tops of them.
We were in a gondola moving slowly down a mountain. As we passed a group of trees, our tour guide informed us of a baby sloth and its mother sleeping in a tree. Everyone else seemed to be able to see it, but I couldn’t. It took me some moving around, but I got into a position where I could see the mother and baby sloth sitting peacefully in a position where they could not be disturbed by anyone; not even tourists yelling at each other trying to get a better angle for a picture. Luckily the gondola stopped momentarily. We then started to take pictures at a rapid rate. I however, couldn’t help but just stare at the incredible loving protection this mother was providing for her child. As we watched them rest, the baby sloth readjusted its sleeping position; we noticed we could now clearly see it was hugging its mother. This mesmerized me in a way I’ve never felt before.
To see this sense of intimate trust between a parent and child transcend humans was truly a remarkable sight. However, this small excursion was about to end because the gondola finally started moving again. As we moved further and further away from the sloths, I looked back and saw the baby’s face. The sloth’s face was calm, sleepy, and relaxed. I could see a higher level of trust between the mom and her baby as they lay swaying in the branches, though safely immobile, resting for what would seem like an eternity. It seems like such a peaceful life to grow up in.
In a sense, it was fascinating to see how these beautiful animals can go about their lives without expressing any worry about the loud environments they may live around such as cities or parks. As it is usually assumed, the mother in any species can have a loud voice in how the whole species is perceived. In a typical survival scenario, the father would go out to hunt for food, while the mother would stay behind and protect the children. Thus, said children will have spent most of their youth with their mother. This lifestyle allows the mother to instill her own style of teachings onto her children.
In most animal cultures, the mother is left to fend for her offspring alone. This type of behavior spans from large animals to small insects. The chances of the children surviving are entirely dependent on the accuracy of the mother’s instincts. Since this behavior is common in simple creatures like wild animals and insects, it is assumed that this practice can stem all the way to humans as well. The typical gender roles of today’s society depict the father as the worker and the mother as the caregiver. In this case, it is up to the mother whether or not her children will live with a basis of her standards or that of society’s.
I learned that in a sloth’s early years in their youth, there are any occasions in which they are dropped or fallen from trees. Sometimes, this is the fault of the mother. As tragic as this may appear, this is, in a way, a rite of passage for all sloths. The benefit that is brought from this is a lesson of survival. If the young sloth is to ever find itself on the ground in its adult years, how is it supposed to know to climb back up the tree of which it fell? Over the years, when the baby sloth falls from the tree, it is taught to act in a timely manner and return to the top of the tree of which it came. In a sense, this seems like it can tie into the theory of Natural Selection. If one cannot fulfill an important life lesson, they cannot and will not survive in life.
In a way, this reminds me of today’s society. Though we may have different methods than that of the sloths, like letting kids fall out of trees, we tend to raise our youth in a similar manner, metaphorically speaking. As we grow we make mistakes. When you’re learning to ride your bike, it’s a typical thing to fall. However, it is up to you whether you wish to quit or to keep trying.
But there comes the time when all children must “leave the nest.” For some, it’s the military, for others it’s college. Either way, our parents need to throw us out into the air hoping we “flap our wings and fly” without their guidance anymore. From that point on, it’s up to us whether or not we will fall or fly.
In a way, I envy the sloths. They have a relaxed and calm life and it’s fascinating because it is under their control. They opt to stay high in the trees, away from danger, and sleep all day and move without haste. A life without haste is a true dream. In a time where no one is allowed to move at their own pace, it gets very stressful; sometimes to the point where it is far too overwhelming to even move on in life. However, the sloth does not live this life. The sloth lives a life far more uneventful than mine.
My whole life I’ve always felt as if I’ve been rushed. Keep studying, get to your appointments, meet the deadlines, don’t be late. I truly wish I were a sloth. Living life in the slow lane, no deadlines to stress about, no bills to pay, no appointments to make or keep track of, completely free from the annoyance that is human responsibilities. Though I would need to deal with real predators, it is more than a reasonable trade that I would execute at any given time. When I was younger, I was always curious about the life of a sloth. With the image I had in my mind from the movie “Ice Age”, I had a rather unrealistic view on the lifestyle of the average sloth. They didn’t seem that interesting when I learned about them, but I suppose that was the thing that was indeed interesting, is that they weren’t very interesting. They are perceived as boring and lazy and therefore people don’t show an immediate interest in them. They aren’t your typical “exotic” animal as opposed to a lion or a tiger.
The sloth’s purpose in life is no different than any other wild animal living in the wilderness: to survive and reproduce. However, in order to get to that point in life, it all starts with that one lesson. The lesson that teaches the sloth to act with purpose and be efficient when traveling. Falling is a talent both humans and sloths have in common. From the beginning, it is the job of the parents to help the child and guide it in a direction that will allow it to make the efficient decisions on its own. Eventually, the time comes when the child has to leave. Though it may be a hard step for anyone to take, all families in the animal kingdom go through it. However, every species has their own method in teaching lessons. For some, it’s fighting. For others, it’s basic abandonment. When it comes to sloths, their method can be interpreted differently. Through this technique, a message is portrayed: “If you fall, it is entirely up to you whether or not you can climb back to where you fell from…then climb higher and higher.”
The sloth’s method of “tree jumping” is repeated at least three to five times over the course of the sloth’s younger years. This act of repetition is to test the baby sloth’s ability to withstand the constant stress, build up a tolerance of it, and eventually, climb back up the tree without struggle. In hand with sloths, humans also tend to experience this constant repetition of failure in life. Though instead of experiencing the same lesson in our younger years, we still learn them in our adult years. Sometimes we test the validity of the lessons we’ve learned over time. Jay-walking, bad manners, and social skills are good examples of lessons learned in our early childhoods. However, when tested, they can get you arrested, attacked, or even make you go from being “taken” to “single.” Though these are only a handful, life lessons are key in surviving in any day’s society.
Like a sloth, we must learn from our past and use it to make us stronger in the sense that we become smarter and even more efficient in making decisions as well as executing those decisions. The point of learning a lesson is to not intentionally put ourselves in a position to where we have to re-learn the consequences, it is to simply learn and understand the consequences in the smallest of attempts to ensure that the mistake isn’t made again. However, when the situation arises that of which the mistake is indeed committed again, it is important that you are to allow your knowledge to be reinforced by the repeated encounter. After all, we aren’t all perfect. We are always falling; making mistakes. Given that, we are also always learning.
