Sloth

Our final Season 2 Menagerie animal:

a Three-Toed Sloth.

He is as furry as he looks, if not more. That fur was 1/2" thick and not fun to work with, but so worth it.

He has these long limbs that are awesome for posing.

Also this bitty tail (until I did sloth research, I had no idea if sloths even had tails).

Real sloth tails are much narrower. Apparently, because their digestion is so slow, they only poop once a week. So every seven days or so, they clamber down their tree to the ground and dig a hole with their tails (yes, their tails!) for ah . . . shall we say, business purposes, after which they ascend their trees once more. I've also learned that this descend-to-earth-business-transaction is also a big social-community activity for these guys. To each his own, I guess.

Our Sloth's tail is a little wider than their real-life counterparts, especially in this fur. Seen from the side, it's practically a little puff ball. Eeeeee.

Cute though his tail may be, it's his face that undoes me.

I mean, gah. I don't even care that he looks more plaintive and less smiley than real sloths. 

Here are his limbs and toes.

The kids adore this Sloth. And by "adore", I mean "have worked out a roster for whom gets to sleep with him in their beds". They've also named him Mo (they tell me it's short for Slow-Motion). 

Here are some shots I took of Mo sitting on a random piece of furniture just a day or two after finishing him. This was at the end of Feb. It's been more than a month and I haven't seen him since - the kids have hidden him away. I haven't heard any fights either so one must assume that the bedtime roster is being followed amicably and equitably.