Desert Animals

Background Information

The desert is home to all types of animals- mammals, reptiles, birds, insects, and arachnids.  Most of these animals avoid the heat of the desert by feeding and hunting at night when the temperatures have dropped.

Some animals even dig burrows and stay underground during the day.  Animals that are large stay under shade.

Like plants, desert animals have to survive without much water.  Rodents don't drink often, they get their water from the seeds and stems that they eat.  Animals such as birds get their water from cactus fruit.  Snakes and other reptiles get their water from the animals they eat.

Most of the animals that live in the desert are nocturnal; they come out at night.  Some of the ones that come out during the day, keep their bodies off the surface of the hot desert by hopping or running.

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