Homes of Land Animals
All the animals that live on the surface of land or in burrows and holes under the ground are called terrestrial animals.
Elephants live in dense forests. Tigers, lions and foxes live in forests and grasslands. Tigers and lions live in dens. Foxes live in holes made by them in the earth.
Polar bears, penguins, sea lions and Arctic foxes are found in extreme cold regions. These animals can survive only in freezing cold condition.
Camel, spotted hyena, ostrich and sand cat are desert animals. They live in deserts. Hyena makes hole and sleeps in it.
Goats, horses, cows and deer are grass-eating animals. They live in grasslands.
Snakes, rats and rabbits live in holes. Rabbit lives in a burrow.
Domestic animals are kept in shelters made by man. Cows and buffaloes are kept in sheds. Horses are kept in stables. Pigs are kept in a sty. Animals like sheep and goats are kept at farms.
Homes of Water Animals
Some animals can live only in water. Such animals are called aquatic animals. Animals like fish, whales, starfish, octopus and sea horse live in water. Starfish lives on rocks in the sea. Octopus too lives between rocks. Fish live among aquatic plants. Some seek shelter in corals too.
Frogs, crocodiles, crabs and tortoises live both in water and on land. Such animals are called amphibians.
Crab, crocodile and tortoise make holes on river banks or sea shores to lay their eggs. However, they spend most of their time in water.
Arboreal Animals
We have seen squirrels on trees. Monkeys jump from branch to branch and tree to tree.
Monkeys, squirrels and koala bears are arboreal animals. They spend most of their time on trees. They jump or move from tree to tree in search of food.
Special Shelters
Spiders make their web and stay in it. Spider’s web is also known as cobweb. They make their webs in between tree branches and buildings. They do not belong to the family of arboreal animals. The spider makes this special structure to catch prey.
Tree ants make their shelter with the leaves of trees. Some honeybees too make honeycombs on trees. These are some special shelters. Ants and termites live in ant hills made of hard mud.
Aerial Animals
Birds and some insects fly for a long time and remain in air for most of the time. Therefore, they are called aerial animals. Butterflies, grasshoppers, wasps, hornets and dragonflies are aerial insects.
Nests of Birds
Birds’ shelter is called nest. Birds lay eggs in the nest and bring up the young ones. Nests give baby birds a secure shelter and a safe place to hide from predators until they are grown enough to fly and search for food. Most of the birds make their nests on the trees.
Every bird has its own style of making its nest. Some birds make nests under the ground, some on rocks and others on the roof of houses.
Birds use grass, moss, string, fibre, twigs, feathers, mud, bits of shells, etc. for building nests.
Platform nests are relatively flat nests that may be located on the ground or on the tops of rooted vegetation in shallow waters. Many water birds make their nest in this manner in the midst of reeds. Cupped nests are located on branches of trees and shrubs and are supported mainly from below. Humming birds build such nests.
Weaver birds build their nests by weaving grass or fibres. Crows build their nests on the trees using rough sticks, coir and other fibres. They lay four to five pale blue-green eggs.
Nocturnals and Diurnals
Some animals cannot be seen during the day. Animals such as owls, bats, foxes, leopards,
catfishes, eels and kraits are nocturnal animals because they come out at night in search of food.
These animals have good vision and sense of smell at night. Krait snake is very agile at night. It is very slow and sluggish during the day.
Similarly, other nocturnal animals too cannot move very fast during the day, as they face the problem of vision during the day. They remain in their shelter during the day.
Animals that are found during the day are called diurnals.
