Burrow

“ The burrow was not empty when he came to it, for it already contained two moorhens' eggs; but there was still room for more, and one by one he fetched the remainder of his victims, mother and all, that way, and stuffed them into the burrow, with a plodding, steady, exact doggedness of purpose that was rather surprising in a mere wild beast who, if seen casually, would have appeared to the ordinary man to be merely aimlessly wandering about the landscape. ”

“ In the midst of what we regard as storm-beaten desolation he pipes and whistles right cheerily, and enjoys long life in his skyland homes. His burrow is made in disintegrated rocks or beneath large boulders. Coming out of his den in the cold hoarfrost mornings, he takes a sun-bath on some favorite flat-topped rock, then goes to breakfast in garden hollows, eats grass and flowers until comfortably swollen, then goes a-visiting to fight and play. How long a woodchuck lives in this bracing air I don’t know, but some of them are rusty and gray like lichen-covered boulders. ”

“ There they would all sit erect, their tails spread out on the ground, and their paws hanging down before their white breasts, chattering and squeaking with the utmost vivacity upon some topic of common interest, while the proprietor of the burrow, with his head just visible on the top of his mound, would sit looking down with a complacent countenance on the enjoyment of his guests. ”

“ These little animals burrow deeply in the ground, and the method of dislodging them adopted by us was the pouring a quantity of water into their holes, which causes them to rush out at another aperture, when they commence leaping about in a surprising manner until they observe another burrow and instantly disappear. If chased, they spring from the hind quarters, darting about here and there, and affording great amusement to the pursuers. ”

“ Once the burrow has attained a depth of a couple of inches, it forms a sufficient shelter for the needs of the moment. The rest will be the work of time; a labour resumed at will, for a short time daily. The burrow will be made deeper and wider as the growth of the inmate and the inclemency of the season demand. Even in winter, if the weather is mild, and the sun smiles upon the threshold of his dwelling, one may sometimes surprise the Cricket thrusting out small quantities of loosened earth, a sign of enlargement and of further burrowing. ”

“ I am so highly polished that the damp soil cannot cleave to me.”
“Burrowing,” said the hedgehog, “is a low form of defence. What says the water-rat?”
“I burrow, too,” said the water-rat. “If I have time, I burrow in the water. I part the surface with the tiniest ripple, keeping my fore feet close packed to my sides, and swim with hind legs only, below the surface, neatly as a natterjack. If I were better treated, I should never burrow in the banks at all. But I must have somewhere to go to when my breath fails me. I eat the mare’s tail and the pith of reed-stems. ”

“ I think that after the winter has passed, and while the marsh is still covered with water, impregnation takes place and burrows are immediately begun. I do not believe that the same burrow is occupied for more than one year, as it would probably fill up during the winter. At first it burrows diagonally, and as long as the mouth is covered with water is satisfied with this oblique hole. When the water recedes, leaving the opening uncovered, the burrow must be dug deeper, and the economy of a perpendicular burrow must immediately suggest itself. ”

“ You would think, perhaps, that when a lug worm bores its way through the loose sand, the sides of its burrow would fall in behind it as fast as it passed along. But from the surface of its body it pours out a thin, sticky liquid which binds the sand together, and forms a kind of lining to the burrow, like the brickwork of a railway tunnel. The burrow is generally about two feet deep, and the worm always lives in it with its head downwards. The worm itself, when fully grown, is from six to ten inches long. ”

“ Quite commonly the burrow has a second passage running obliquely upwards from the main passage to the surface of the soil, and this subsidiary track may itself be shut off from the main branch by an inner door, so that when an enemy has forced an entrance through the main door, the spider retreats behind the second, leaving the intruder to explore the seemingly empty burrow. ”

“ A few days before bringing forth they dig a fresh burrow, not in a straight line, but in a crooked direction, at the bottom of which they make an excavation; after which they tear a quantity of hair from off their bellies, and with it make a bed for their little ones. For the first two days they never quit them; they never stir abroad but when forced by hunger, and then return as soon as they have satisfied their appetite, which they do amazingly quick. ”

“ A shallow pit is made, the mere commencement of the projected burrow. The ball is pushed and pulled until it is close at hand. The father, a vigilant watchman, still retains his hold, while the mother digs with claws and head. ”

“ What a train of pleasant associations is quickened into life!
What pictures he makes upon the lawn! What attitudes he strikes! See him seize a worm and yank it from its burrow!
I recently observed a robin boring for grubs in a country dooryard. It is a common enough sight to witness one seize an angle-worm and drag it from its burrow in the turf, but I am not sure that I ever before saw one drill for grubs and bring the big white morsel to the surface. The robin I am speaking [Pg 263] of had a nest of young in a maple near by, and she worked the neighborhood very industriously for food. ”

“ These animals associate in large companies, occupying with their burrows sometimes two hundred acres of land. The burrows are separate, and each contains ten or twelve of these inhabitants. There is a little mound in front of the hole, formed of the earth thrown out of the burrow; and frequently there are three or four distinct holes, forming one burrow, with their entrances around the base of a mound. These mounds, about two feet in height and four in diameter, are occupied as watch-towers by the inhabitants of these little communities. ”

“ It lives in perpendicular burrows, feeding upon those insects which come within its reach. Its usual position is at the upper part of the burrow, with its jaws widely extended, so as to snap up any insect that may venture too near.
When it has secured its prey, it seeks the bottom of its burrow, makes its meal in quiet, and reascends. How it does so we shall soon see. Towards the end of the body, one of the segments is much enlarged, and has a bold prominence upon the back. On the summit of this prominence there are two horn-like hooks, shaped as seen in the illustration. ”

“ Among the great variety of burrows formed in the grass, or under the surface of the soil, by various animals and insects, there is one that I have often anxiously and, as yet, fruitlessly explored. This burrow is formed by the smallest quadruped animal known to man, the minute shrew, which, when full grown, rarely exceeds the weight of thirty-six grains. ”

“ When so much earth has been forced out of one opening that expulsion of additional loads of earth is overly difficult, the burrow is extended slightly to one side, or even extended into the newly formed mound, and another fan formed. ”

“ In the present study, however, I found three arrangements in approximately equal frequency of occurrence: (1) one hole to one tunnel leading to a burrow; (2) two holes to two short tunnels which joined a long tunnel leading to a burrow; and (3) two separate tunnels from the surface to a burrow. The size, depth and number of underground burrows in the systems that I studied varied and so did those reported in the literature. Jameson (loc. cit.) found burrows in eastern Kansas as deep as 18 inches, far deeper than any found in my study. ”

“ If during the breeding season a strange male attempts to enter the burrow, he is attacked; the female does not remain passive, but closes the mouth of the burrow and encourages her mate by continually pushing him from behind. ”

“ Burrows with barns adjoined. — Certain Rodents have carried hollow dwellings to great perfection. Among these the Hamster of Germany (Cricetus frumentarius) is not the least ingenious. To his dwelling-room he adds three or four storehouses for the amassed provisions of which I have already had occasion to speak. The burrow possesses two openings: one, which the animal prefers to use, which sinks vertically into the soil ”

“ In digging out one of the burrowing animals, the black hunter pushes a long and flexible stick down the hole, draws it out, measures along the ground to the spot exactly above the end of the burrow, replaces the stick, and digs down upon it. ”

“ Then the young enter upon an exploratory period, when each wanders out of the nest, emerges from the burrow, and wanders through the adjacent surface runways in frequent short forays, sometimes following the female and sometimes alone. ”

“ It is a curious fact that man, in very early times, lived in caves, and after that made a sort of house underground—a burrow, in fact—so that his habitations may have gone through the same process of development as have those of the beavers—only with him it has been carried a little farther. ”

“ So he does burrow all the year through, just beneath the surface, in dirt if he must, under light leaves and brush and matted grasses by preference, for there he may go the more easily and quickly to his food. His eyesight and hearing are good, and he moves like a little brown flash when he has to go into the open. ”

“ The mouth of the burrow is closed with a most ingeniously constructed mud flap, through which are several small perforations, which permit the animal to breathe air directly, as it is also one of the few species gifted with both lungs and gills. While enclosed in its nest, the fish is frequently dug out by the natives, who highly prize its flesh. ”

“ Their food is prairie grass. Like rabbits, they burrow in the ground, throwing out heaps of earth, and often large stones, which remain at the mouth of their holes. The entrance to their burrows is about four inches in diameter, and runs obliquely into the earth about three feet, when the holes ramify in every direction and connect with each other on every side. Some kind of police seems to be observed among them; for at the approach of man, one of the dogs will run to the entrance of a burrow, and, squatting down, utter a shrill bark. ”

“ In autumn they dig deeper into the sides of the mountains to construct their winter burrows and chambers, which have to afford accommodation for the entire family, whose number generally ranges between five and fifteen individuals. The burrow terminates in a large chamber, which is filled with soft, short hay. As early as August these rodents begin to collect grass, which is spread out on the hillsides to dry, and then carried into the burrows. ”

“ In more open parts of the country, holes in the ground are selected as breeding-places, especially the burrows of rabbits. When the warreners find the young in a burrow, they fix sticks at the mouth of the hole in such a manner as to prevent the escape of the young, but so as to allow the old birds to feed them. ”

“ Venus, Donax, Tellina, Mactra, which are shallow burrowers, do not gape; Solen, Lutraria, and to a less degree Mya, burrow deeply and gape widely. In order to burrow deeply the foot must be highly developed, and the larger it becomes, the more will it tend to keep the valves apart at the place where it is habitually protruded. Burrowing species always remain in communication with the surface by means of their siphons, the constant extension of which tends to keep the valves apart at the end opposite to the foot. ”

“ During the day, the earthworm generally remains in its burrow in the soil, with its head just inside the entrance. Its method of forming the burrow depends upon the texture of the ground. In loose soil the earth is simply pushed aside, but where the material is too compact for this, the animal actually eats its way through. The burrow is lined with soft earth or little stones, and is plugged at the mouth with leaves or other convenient objects. ”

“ It is no small difficulty to catch them, for when we have discovered some marks of the place where we imagine they began to burrow, we are often disappointed in digging after them; they work so artfully, that we know not which way to find out their secret recesses ”

“ Both birds assist in making this burrow, which often runs under some mass of rocks, and many holes are begun and deserted for no apparent reason, just as we find to be the case with the Sand Martin and other hole-boring species. At the entrance of all of the holes that are occupied there is a considerable heap of droppings. ”

“ A second wall was exposed to view for the first time, and an open burrow was seen on its broken summit. By separating the flints this burrow was traced far down in the interior of the wall; but as some of the flints cohered firmly, the whole mass was disturbed in pulling down the wall, and the burrow could not be traced to the bottom. ”

“ When pursued among the bushes they often run considerable distances before taking refuge in a burrow. When hard pressed they will enter the first opening encountered, but if it is not its own home the fugitive soon comes out and scampers away, apparently fearful of the return of the owner or perhaps owing to his presence. ”

“ It is not uncommon to see several of them on the threshold of the same burrow. Then each awaits his turn to enter; they are as peaceable in their relations as the females who are joint owners of a burrow. At other times, one wants to go in as a second is coming out. ”

“ She begins by excavating a small burrow, either m the open soil, under some stone or in rotten wood. She enlarges the blind end of the burrow to form a small chamber and then completely closes the opening to the outside world. ”