We met these fine folks at Edinburgh Zoo earlier this year. Before I went in I was disappointed that the Brilliant Birds exhibit had been removed. Exactly as advertised the birds in that previous incarnation were indeed brilliant and something of a favourite of mine. Particularly the Lilac Breasted Roller which served as a tangible reminder of my honeymoon from eras past.
To my surprised delight the Sloth exhibit was if anything even better. I especially enjoyed the contrast between the smooth fluidity of the sloths and the caffeine-addict zippiness of the Hairy Armadillos who share the building.
The thing that fascinated me about the sloths was they way they moved. I had been anticipating ponderous slowness. The dull torpor of a stupid beast that can barely motivate itself to move. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Strangely there’s nothing ponderous about them. Sloths move with a remarkable fluidity reminiscent of tai chi practices. (Not mine, mine were terrible!) More recently this was brought to mind by a staff-spinning tutorial by @michelle.c.smith who tells us, “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” Naturally I’m going to take that idea and run right out of the box!
Movement in the shadows was the first sign of trouble. At least the first that Mo spotted. He continued unhurried along the branch. His friend Fe was waiting. Like all sloths, Fe had an abundance of patience but that didn’t mean he wanted to delay.
Deep within the canopy above a hint of golden fur flashed briefly. Mo knew what that meant. A Jaguar. Well, he’d deal with that in due course. No sense in detouring. The end would come in its own time. As with all things, Mo saw no point in hurrying it along.
The branch he was on thinned as he moved further from the trunk. His progress made it bend smoothly until it crossed a branch from another tree exactly where his claws landed. Gibbering monkeys would have swung across. They might even have leapt. No finesse. Mo transferred flawlessly to the other tree and his previous carrier swished back up revealing another glimpse of his pursuer. It would not be long now. Still Mo continued on his way.
Fe’s home tree was in sight now. A mere three transfers away. It occurred to Mo that he might want to meet the jaguar before he got there. Having a friend by him for that encounter might be a comfort. On the other hand, bringing trouble to Fe’s door was hardly the act of a friend. The serene flow of his left arm slipped past the path he was on and stretched to a higher branch. The transition was so smooth it was as if he’d always planned to take that route. He reflected that perhaps he should have. This new course would intercept the jaguar far from where it had obviously intended to strike.
Mo could see the jaguar clearly now. A lesser animal would startle when confronted with a predator. Particularly one so close. Mo was not such an animal. An outside observer might be fooled into thinking Mo simply hadn’t spotted the huge murder-cat. That or he was too stupid to panic. Foolish thinking indeed.
Its cover blown the jaguar moved into attack position. Where a foolish observer would see fluid, feline power, Mo saw only effort. A creature exerting itself to make reality bend to its will. The jaguar pounced.
What happened next the foolish observer would ascribe to luck. If the foolish observer had the good fortune to record high-speed video, and the sense to review it another story would emerge.
While the cat’s muscles bunched to spring, Mo completed his preparations. His weight shifted, subtly altering his balance on the branch. The hunter sprang, claws extended and teeth bared, toward its prey. But in the blink it took to cross the distance the prey, Mo, wasn’t there. His skewed balance had allowed him to pour himself upward, seemingly defying gravity. In the vital instant of collision, Mo was above his attacker. His trio of grasping claws effortlessly snagged the jaguar by the neck. Mo twisted in a natural continuation of his movement.
Upside down and surprised, the Jaguar missed its grip on the branch. It fell from the high canopy without even time to snarl in alarmed panic.
Mo’s circling motion blended smoothly back into his steady flow along the branches to his friend’s home tree.
Brandon Lim 