People build homes not only to live in but also to keep themselves warm, dry and as a safe haven. Animals also have specially designed homes for themselves, made with different kinds of materials.
TAILOR BIRD: A home tailor-made for them
Nests are the homes of birds, but are also homes of insects and other small animals. Birds make their nests from twigs, leaves, grass and other material. They can be built on the branches of trees, on the ground or like some city birds, in nooks and crannies of buildings.
Lodges — no, not resorts, are the homes of beavers, built with branches and mud. It can be in a river, lake, or pond. Its entrance, however, is underwater and it leads to a plant-lined living area above the water level.
RABBITS: Safe and cosy underground.
Burrows and holes, or a tunnel is built by animals like rabbits, meerkats, groundhogs, gophers, prairie dogs and even ants live in them. A burrow often has chambers or rooms, which are connected by tunnels. Here’s a fun fact for you. As many as 20 rabbits can live together in a burrow.
SNAIL: Carry your home with you.
Can you imagine carrying your home with you wherever you go? Many animals with soft bodies do so with shells. Shells are hard bone covering that protects some animals’ bodies. Most animals such as snails, crabs, and turtles, have ‘built on’ shells. Hermit crabs on the other hand, use shells from other animals as their homes; changing shells as they grow.
Bees, wasps, and yellow jackets make wax inside their bodies. They then use the wax to build homes called hives where they live together, in huge numbers.
SPIDER: Come into my parlour.
You might have seen these around your home. Spiders spin webs to live in. Webs are also perfect traps for catching insects to eat. The shape of webs can vary, from spiral to tube-shaped.
OWL: A bird’s eye view.
Squirrels, owls, porcupines, and raccoons like to make their homes in hollows. You can sometimes even find black bears in tree hollows.
CORAL REEF: Home to many underwater creatures.
Corals reefs are tiny animals and a single coral is called a polyp. Their skeletons form a reef. They are found in the ocean and are actually the homes of many kinds of creatures. You can find different kinds of fish, a large variety of species such as, sponges, worms, crustaceans (like shrimps, crabs and so on), molluscs, star fish, sea turtles, sea snakes and more.
