To see the Sloth Bears at the National Zoo! Guaranteed Fun.
Sloth bears have shaggy, dusty-black coats, pale, short-haired muzzles, and long, curved claws that they use to excavate ants and termites. A cream-colored "V" or "Y" usually marks their chests. Sloth bears' nostrils can close, protecting the animals from dust or insects when raiding termite nests or bee hives. A gap in their teeth enables them to suck up ants, termites, and other insects.
Not to be confused with
a normal sloth, like the one pictured here.
The Sloth Bear does not move as slowly as a sloth, and can easily outrun a human. One theory has it that early explorers saw these bears lying upside down in trees and gave them their common name for the similarity to the way a sloth hangs in trees. Another claims that the Sloth Bear gets its name because its normal walk is more of a meandering shuffle. The shaggy coat, light-coloured muzzle and long claws are common qualities of a sloth.
The Sloth Bear primarily eats ants and termites, breaking into termite mounds with large powerful claws and eating the occupants. It may also eat honey, eggs, birds, flowers, tubers, fruits, grains and meat.
The animal's fondness for honey has caused it to be nicknamed the Honey bear; it has been known to scale the occasional tree to knock down a bee honeycomb, which it will then enjoy on the ground below.
FUN FACTS:
-The Hindi word for bear—bhalu. Baloo, the "sleepy old grey bear" of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, is commonly identified as a Sloth Bear, as Baloo is native to the forests of India. In the Walt Disney Company's 1967 animated adapation of the book, Baloo's design somewhat resembles a grey-colored version of a grizzly bear, but has the distinctive longer claws of the Sloth Bear.
-In the first episode of season 2 of wildboyz, Steve-O fought a Sloth Bear.
Went shopping at the outlets in Leesburg today with Relax and Unjuanted. My intent was to buy a pair of Juicy Couture Semi-precious Oversized Sunglasses. I wanted the ones with the plastic frame and the Juicy Couture logo on the left temple
with a cutout heart on the frame. Super cute! But they didn't have any.
On the way back we got something to eat. Who still eats at Long John Silver's? I haven't been to one since college. The place smelled like grease. One good thing Long John Silver's still has: free pirate hats!
In other news, Relax has stared painting again! This means super super cute and fun paintings.
