Slow and Slower

Slow and Slower

Snail The animal world has some very slow animals in it. One of the very slowest is the snail. Even the fastest snails are pretty slow. In 1995, Archie the snail took two minutes and twenty seconds to crawl 13 inches (33 cm).

Starfish Snails aren't the only slow animals. Starfish don't seem to move at all. At top speed, they just creep along. A starfish needs four minutes to move the length of a man's arm.

Three-toed Sloth The three-toed sloth hangs around in trees most of the time. Because it seldom moves, little plants often grow on its fur. A sloth needs about three minutes to crawl the length of two cars.

Galapagos Tortoise Humans can walk about eighteen times faster than this giant tortoise. The Galapagos tortoise isn't fast but it does live a long time. A tortoise can live 150 years or more.

Gila Monster The desert gila(HEE-luh)monster is about as slow as the Galapagos tortoise. It tries to avoid humans and other animals. If scared, it will hiss loudly then bite quickly.