Laziness is often associated with humans and it is our breed that loves chilling on the couch and we are the people who have mastered the art of procrastination. When we think of animals, we picture active creatures that can climb rocks or jump several feet long pits within seconds. Laziness is seldom associated with animals. But there is only a little we know about the diversity of nature and we continue to explore and learn throughout our lives. Unlike humans, animals don’t kill their time eating potato chips while chilling on the couch. However, they have their own ways of doing nothing.
We all know about the speed and agility of animals like leopards, tigers, reptiles and vultures. But this blog is about animals who are very lazy in nature. We are going to tell you about 9 such animals who are lazy in nature.
- Pygmy bluetongue lizard: It’s very difficult to spot Pygmy bluetongue lizards and that is why they were considered to be extinct once. Mainly found in Australia, these lizards live in spider burrows and mainly feed on insects. Despite being swift and agile, the Pygmy lizards prefer the wait and play the game over an aggressive go for kill strategy. They sit inside spider burrows with their heads outside to wait for insects passing by. They hardly leave the burrow even for eating or drinking water and this perfectly defines their lazy nature.
- Nurse Shark: What could be the better place to just chill and do nothing other than the underwater surface? Sharks need to swim continuously in order to breathe effectively. That is why the nurse sharks falling in this category comes as a shocker. Migration and nurse sharks really don’t go hand in hand and they spend most of their time lying idle on the seabed. They have the capability to pump the water over their gills and it helps them in breathing even when they are not swimming. They spend most of the daytime sleeping and have their meals at night. Unlike other marine creatures, they don’t eat but suck their prey.
- Giant Panda: Well this is easy to guess. Pandas and laziness are synonyms and their lazy nature is known to everyone. They either spend their days playing with bamboo or sleeping. There’s no running on a panda’s schedule, not even for having its favourite meal. Cuddling to the trees or hanging to the branches is the most they can do. The gentle giants are capable of sleeping for as long as 10 hours. Bamboo is not just their favourite toy but also their favourite food. They can consume as much as 20 kg of bamboo in a day. Sleeping and eating are the only things that a panda does in its entire life.
- Echidna: Welcome to the territory of the unknown. Echidna is a strange-looking creature with spikes all over its body. What’s not strange about Echidna is their lazy behaviour. They sleep for nearly 12 hours in a day. They are mainly found in the forests of Australia and have a really low body temperature. This is why they don’t have friendship with the sunlight. The warm temperature really bothers these creatures due to their inability to sweat. This is why they spend their days sleeping and only come out at the nights when the sun is nowhere to see.
- Python: Unlike its reputation of being a deadly creature, python is really lazy and inactive in nature. It moves really slow and only shifts to the proactive mode when it senses any harm. Under normal conditions, a python can sleep for 18 to 20 hours a day. They feed only once or twice a week and sleep longer to digest the food. Shedding the upper layer of the skin is a common phenomenon and before shedding, they may sleep for as long as a week to gather energy for the process.
- Hippopotamus: It is really easy to guess the nature of these gigantic yet fluffy beasts. With the kind of bodyweight they possess, moving for a long time is really a liability. Simply put, hippos hate moving. Whether inside a mud pit, water they love sleeping. Hippos sleep for as long as 18 to hours a day. Their favourite thing is to chill in groups inside water right under the sun. When they are not chilling under the sun, they are either sleeping or walking lazily. These creatures are herbivores and can graze for as long as 5 hours.
- Opossum: All that these creatures know is sleeping. It is as if Opossum stepped upon the earth’s surface to teach the world the art of sleeping. They are like small bears in appearance and don’t migrate easily. They move in families and once a place capable of providing shelter and food is discovered, they stay there for a long time. Opossum can sleep for 18 to 20 hours daily. They only move when it is very necessary.
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- Sloth: Apart from pandas, sloths are the creatures that come to our mind when we try to picture lazy animals. Sloths, just like pandas, are really lazy. They are known as the animals who move really slowly. Sloths are capable of sleeping for over 20 hours in a day. They are mainly found in the tropical rainforests of South America. Most of their life is spent either sleeping or hanging from tree branches. They can sleep while hanging from the branches. After a very tiny task, they reward themselves with hours of sleep.
- Koala: Another tree-hugging animal is at the top of the list. Most of the world is now familiar to Koalas as we all saw the heart-wrenching pictures of dead and injured koalas after the Australian forest fire. Koalas are known for their sleeping capabilities and are really loved by tourists. They only wake up for 2 to 6 hours in a day. The rest of the time is spent sleeping. A lot of it has to do with their diet. Koalas mainly eat eucalyptus leaves that are not only toxic but also take time to digest. Sleeping helps in better digestion and thus Koalas are the way they are.