Animals That Live Underground
PRAIRIE DOG Prairie Dogs live in the grasslands of North America. You can identify their burrows from the mounds of earth left near the entrances. Their underground homes are complex, with 30 to 50 entrances and exits per acre. They have strong family bonds and their social structures are just as complex.
GROUNDHOG Groundhogs are also known as woodchucks or North American ground squirrels. They live in the eastern and central U.S., Alaska, and across Canada along forest edges. These animals enjoy digging and have deep, extensive burrow systems.
CHIPMUNK Chipmunks live in Asia and North America. There are 17 different species, and most dig extensive burrows over 11 feet long. They have cheek pouches to carry food to their burrows for storage. Their bodies are 4 to 7 inches long, with tails 3 to 5 inches.
MOLE Moles have large hands with sharp claws that allow them to burrow easily. Their digging motion resembles a swimming stroke. They can travel up to 4 mph and dig around 15 to 18 feet tunnels in an hour.
BURROWING OWL Burrowing owls live in the western U.S., South America, and Mexico. They are one of the smaller types of owls in North America and the only type to create nests underground. Although they can dig their burrows of up to 8 feet, they often occupy abandoned holes by other animals.
FENNEC FOX Fennec foxes are the smallest foxes globally and live in dens underground in the Sahara desert. They use their feet as shovels for digging dens up to 3 feet deep.
DWARF MONGOOSE Dwarf mongooses are found in eastern Africa and are the smallest species of mongoose. They normally create their burrows near termite mounds, their main food source.
CHINESE PANGOLIN The Chinese Pangolin creates burrows using their scaled bodies and feet to kick dirt out of the entrance. They sleep in burrows and, during the winter, make burrows near termite nests for a food source. In China, they are endangered and poached for their scales and meat for Chinese medicine and delicacies.
FUNNEL WEB SPIDER Funnel Web Spiders are found in eastern Australia. There are 35 species, with some extremely venomous. They have funnel-shaped webs coming out of their burrows with trip lines on the sides alerting them to prey or predators. Their bodies are between 0.4 to 2.0 inches, with a hairless carapace covering the front.
KINGFISHER Kingfishers are found globally, except for Antarctica. Instead of nests, these birds build burrows in softwood trees, dirt banks, or old termite mounds. They use their feet to build the burrows that have a nesting chamber for eggs.