A burrower is an animal that digs tunnels or holes in the ground to live in. Rabbits are burrowers, creating networks of underground passages called warrens where they sleep, raise their young, and hide from predators. Prairie dogs are burrowers too, building elaborate underground towns with separate rooms for sleeping, storing food, and even going to the bathroom.

Many burrowers are surprisingly skilled engineers. A mole can dig through 15 feet of soil in a single hour, using its powerful front paws like shovels. Badgers create burrows called setts that their families use for generations, sometimes for over a hundred years. Even some birds, like burrowing owls, make their homes underground, though they usually move into burrows that other animals have abandoned.

Burrowing offers real advantages: underground homes stay cool in summer and warm in winter, and they provide excellent protection from hawks, foxes, and other predators. The term can also describe a person who digs or tunnels, like archaeologists who carefully dig through ancient sites looking for artifacts.