Howard's Way

Late yesterday afternoon as we were preparing the evening meal, Nick was just outside the kitchen getting a lime from the tree. We didn’t know there was a lime tree so close to the kitchen until Devon pointed it out. Last week we got limes from a tree all the way up near the main house. So there was Nick, machete in hand, hacking away for a lime. Suddenly, Nick was softly calling out to us. You guys get here, check this out. Not always a good omen, those words usually mean tarantula or snake or some other such deadly creature. No, he said, there in the tree, it’s a little buddha. Nick, seriously, is it a tarantula, you’d better tell us. No, he said, look, it’s a little buddha. Finally, we see him. Howard. Our resident sloth. Nick came close to taking him out with the machete and was startled to see this smiling little face looking at him through the branches. I am now truly enchanted by this amazing creature.

Let me tell you a bit about Howard and his friends…

Three-toed sloths are tree dwellers and they spend almost their entire life sleeping, feeding and moving around in trees, only coming down to the ground once a week or fortnight to poop – this exercise consumes most of their energy. Their only natural predators are eagles and machete-wielding humans. They are given their name because they move so slowly – a maximum speed of 240m per hour.

I think when I get back to the farm this afternoon, I'll go to his tree and just watch him for a while. He really is the coolest guy.