Which Animals Have the Deepest Burrows: You'll Never Guess

Digging holes is a wonderful skill, especially useful in the wild. Imagine a cozy underground shelter where you can hide from predators, wait out the heat or frost, and also calmly raise your offspring. Sounds just wonderful, doesn't it? Animals such as moles, gophers, foxes, and snakes are especially good at digging deep, comfortable holes. Each of them has their own good reasons for choosing to live underground. And what animal do you think digs the deepest holes? You might think that the record belongs to moles or tiny mice. In fact, the answer to this question is not as simple as it seems, and you will certainly be surprised.

Which animals have the deepest burrows: you'll never guess. Which animal do you think digs burrows deeper than all other animals? Photo.

Which animal do you think digs deeper than all other animals?

How Deep Do Moles Live

When it comes to animals that live in burrows, moles usually come to mind.

They do dig a tunnel system that can reach impressive dimensions – in one night, one mole can dig a tunnel up to 50 meters long! But if you thought that moles dig the deepest holes, then this is not entirely true. Moles dig long tunnels, but do not go very deep.

How deep do moles live? Moles dig deep holes, but they are not record holders in this matter. Image source: dzen.ru. Photo.

Moles dig deep holes, but they are not record holders in this matter. Image source: dzen.ru

The nesting chambers where moles live and produce offspring are located at a depth of 1.5-2 meters. And their main passages, where they hunt earthworms, are much closer to the surface, at a depth of only 2-5 centimeters.

Of course, for many animals such a way of life would be extremely inconvenient, but moles are perfectly adapted to underground life. Their velvety fur grows equally on both sides, allowing them to move freely in any direction along narrow tunnels. And their powerful front paws work like real shovels, allowing moles to quickly move through the soil.

At what depth do moles live. The mole tunnel system. Image source: clipart-library.com. Photo.

A mole's tunnel system. Image source: clipart-library.com

Although moles are masters of the underground world, they still fall short when it comes to depth records. The real champions in this business hide among completely different species.

Read also: What animals live on Everest, the highest point on Earth

Who digs the deepest holes

Who digs the deepest holes in nature, if not moles? Mice? Foxes? Snakes? It turns out that the deepest holes are not dug by the animals we think of first.

In 2015, Australian scientists made a surprising discovery: according to New Scientist, the deepest burrows among vertebrates are not dug by mammals, but by lizards, the Argus monitor lizard (Varanus panopter). These creatures, living in the Kimberley region in northern Australia, create spiral burrows up to 3.6 meters deep. These burrows attracted the attention of scientists back in the 19th century and were even given a very appropriate name – “devil's corkscrew”.

Who digs the deepest holes. The lizard that digs the deepest holes. Image source: newscientist.com. Photo.

The lizard that digs the deepest burrows. Image source: newscientist.com

These deep, complex burrows help the lizards protect their young. At the end of each spiral is a small “room” where the females lay their eggs. The depth of the burrow keeps the temperature stable and the humidity higher than the surrounding soil, which helps the eggs survive the long eight-month incubation period, especially during the dry season. These conditions create an ideal environment for the development of embryos.

Who digs the deepest holes? Monitor lizards have powerful paws that help them dig record-breaking deep holes. Photo source: wikimedia.org. Photo.

Monitor lizards have powerful paws that help them dig record-breaking deep holes. Photo source: wikimedia.org

Perhaps the spiral structure of the holes is also an additional protection from predators – primarily from males of other monitor lizards, who often try to destroy the eggs of competitors. There is also a version that such holes can save the offspring from heavy rains that come at the beginning of the breeding season. But one thing is clear – digging such a hole for a lizard is not easy. Some even die when the earth collapses on them during work.

Who digs the deepest holes? Monitor lizards are one of the few lizards that can stand on their hind legs. Photo source: fishki.net. Photo.

Monitor lizards are one of the few lizards that can stand on their hind legs. Photo source: fishki.net

The holes of Australian monitor lizards are, without any exaggeration, a real masterpiece of nature, showing what animals are capable of in the struggle for survival and procreation.

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But if these lizards dig the deepest holes, then a new question arises: what animal lives the deepest, but not in a hole? To learn more about this underground record holder, read our article “What animal lives the deepest underground?”


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