We've all had days when we just can't be bothered - days when slumping on the sofa in front of the latest David Attenborough series seems far more preferable than dragging ourselves up and down the aisles of the local supermarket or cleaning up after the kids. But is this lack of get-up-and-go unique to humans or is it possible lazy animals exist, too?
Picture birds busily constructing intricate nests; vast migration routes negotiated by myriad species, and the effort it takes to catch enough prey to survive - it doesn't seem likely laziness would abound in the animal kingdom.
For some animals, though, it seems laziness has become a survival tactic. Humans have certainly spent centuries trying to ensure their day-to-day lives require as little effort as possible, and other species seem to have taken the same approach to life.
Although Aesop's cautionary tale of the ant and the grasshopper suggests procrastination and cutting corners tend not to end well, there are some species that seem to have perfected the art of putting off today what they can do tomorrow... or not at all.
Here, we take a look at the so-called lazy animals that have found ways to shirk their responsibilities, outsource arduous tasks and generally take a laid-back approach to life. Read on to find out more, if you can summon up the energy...
10 of the world’s laziest animals
Cuckoos
Rearing the next generation is hard work. So, why not offload your offspring onto another doting parent figure? That's exactly what the cuckoo does. After finding an opportune moment to lay its eggs in the nest of another avian species, such as the dunnock, the cuckoo flies off, leaving the unsuspecting foster parent to incubate the cuckoo's egg before rearing the chick as its own.
This behaviour is known as brood parasitism - a reproductive strategy that enables the cuckoo to deposit eggs into the nests of numerous hosts. This means the cuckoo can increase the number of its offspring likely to survive per breeding season, without having to do any of the hard graft involved in raising the chicks. ‘Hands-off parenting’ doesn't even come into it.
Giant pandas
As their diets consist almost exclusively of bamboo, China’s giant pandas have to chomp their way through a huge amount of the nutrient-poor grass each day, leaving little time for much else.
If they’re not eating, they’re either sleeping or relieving their bowels, which they do myriad times a day (what goes in, must come out, after all). With their chosen snack providing little in the way of energy for these endearing bears, they tend to avoid strenuous activities - including (famously) mating.
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Alligator snapping turtles
While cheetahs are known for reaching speeds in excess of 60mph when in pursuit of prey, the alligator snapping turtle takes a much more leisurely approach to securing lunch. Found in the murky waterways of North America, this species spends its time sitting on riverbeds, waiting for a tasty morsel to swim straight into its mouth.
Part of the aquatic reptile’s tongue resembles a tempting worm, and this is used to lure small fish into the snapping turtle’s open jaws. For this swamp-dweller, grabbing a bite to eat requires no more effort than simply sticking out its tongue. This species is so sedentary, in fact, individuals are often spotted with algae growing on their shells.
Koalas
This Australian marsupial is famous for its aptitude for napping. Sleeping the day away, these furry tree-huggers are only awake for up to six hours a day, giving your average teenager a run for their money.
The reason for the marsupial’s lazy lifestyle comes down to diet. The eucalyptus leaves koalas consume don’t offer much in the way of nutrition but their fibrous make-up takes a lot of energy to digest, leading to a perpetual post-dinner slump.
Remora
If getting around under your own steam seems like far too much effort, why not hitch a ride instead? That's the tactic employed by remora - fish with a sucker-like disk on their head, which is used to secure themselves to the underbelly of sharks and other large marine creatures. Remora aren't complete freeloaders, however - in return for transportation, remora will rid their shark-shaped taxis of pesky parasites.
Slow lorises
Found in the rainforests of South and Southeast Asia, these small primates have a common name that alludes to lethargy. In fact, slow lorises can remain still for hours at a time, as though playing their own extended version of musical statues. When they do decide to move, it tends to be in a slow, deliberate manner. Famous for being the only venomous primates in the world, they may appear to be laid-back but they can deliver a deadly bite.
Adélie penguins
With its bitter sub-zero temperatures, life in Antarctica is tough. To help ensure their eggs survive the brutal conditions, Adélie penguins collect pebbles with which to construct their nests, helping to shield their clutch from the elements.
Gathering sufficient stones for this purpose can use up a lot of time and energy, however. So, the laziest (or most opportunistic) individuals within the colony can end up taking a shortcut to nest construction, by simply pinching pebbles from their neighbours when they're not looking.
Dewdrop spiders
Named after their silvery, almost tear-drop-shaped abdomens, dewdrop spiders are kleptoparasites (animals that steal food from others).
These freeloaders reside in the webs of other spider species and nab their host’s dinner from right under their nose (so to speak).
Not only do dewdrop spiders avoid having to go to the trouble of creating their own webs and catching their own prey, if food becomes scarce, these interlopers may even turn on and devour their unwitting host, depending on the size of the host species. There’s gratitude for you.
Honeyguides
If you want to gorge yourself on beeswax and larvae but don’t fancy going to the effort of breaking into a bees’ nest (or dealing with an angry swarm as a result of such actions), getting someone else to do your dirty work for you is the way to go. In a rare example of mutualism between birds and humans, honeyguides (also known as indicator birds) lead Tanzanian hunters to bees’ nests.
The honey-loving humans subdue the bees with smoke then break into the nest to secure the golden spoils within. With all the tricky work taken care of, the indicator birds can simply swoop in to grab a tasty snack.
Sloths
Surely no list of lazy animals would be complete without the enigmatic sloth? After all, it shares its name with a deadly sin described by the Catholic Church as a "culpable lack of effort". Found in the rainforests of South America, sloths sleep for more than 15 hours a day, and do very little when they're awake.
They mainly hang from tree branches, consuming leaves, only making the effort to climb down to the ground about once a week to defecate, before making their way back up into the canopy to carry on doing... well, not very much at all.