Meet The Sloths Is Soothing TV

Watching Meet The Sloths is just about the slowest and most soothing TV experience I've ever had.
The eight part series from the U.K.  has its Canadian premiere Saturday November 23 at 8 p.m. on Animal Planet.
All the "action" takes place at Costa Rica's Sloth Sanctuary where a hardy band of slothaholics tend to the needs of over 150 sloths.
They've been placed here after suffering accidents in the wild and without human care and attention they'd surely perish.
The half hour episodes are filled with insights about slothdom. I always thought the furry critters cute and lazy.
Turns out they're cute and the perpetual slumber comes from the amount of energy needed to digest their primary sources of food which are chock full of toxins --one test shows it takes a whopping 31 days for an adult sloth to digest one of his meals.
Besides the sloths the program also salutes the remarkable women who tend to the needs of the dozing sloths: British sloth expert Becky, Claire the manager of the compound and owner Judy.
Judy set up the sanctuary 20 years ago and has since saved hundreds of sloths from the jaws of death.
Sloths are found in the rain forests of Central and Southern america --they can grow to about two feet long and their life span can actually reach 40 years.
We get to meet the senior citizen of the compound Buttercup who is a stately matron of 20 years.
But we also go out on a rescue mission where a baby abandoned by its mother is clinging to life in a tall tree.
We learn about the various infections that can  threaten the life of young sloths.
But the theory all soths are slow is challenged in a race between two sloths for food --the winner travels three meters in less than a minute.
'The sloth is perfectly adapted to life in the highest branches of the rain forest. Placed on the ground and it is  subject to various predators.
Living their lives upside down makes for all kinds of problems discussed in varying shades of details here.
There's even a menage a trois sloth style in episode two.
But just watch the varying efforts to save the life of little Jesse and try not shedding a tear or two.
The half hours are a perfect length for younger viewer I'm thinking.
So give Meet The Sloths a chance and don't be too slow about it or you'll miss the series.
MEET THE SLOTHS PREMIERES ON ANIMAL PLANET SATURDAY NOVEMBER 23 AT 8 P.M.
MY RATING: ***1/2.