---
title: "Where Animals Live"
book: "Primary & Middle School Biology"
subject: biology
language: en
chapter: 11
exercises: 10
source: https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/11-where-animals-live
---

# Chapter 11 — Where Animals Live

You will not meet a trout in the schoolyard, nor a squirrel at the bottom of the pond. Each [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) lives in the kind of place that suits it — where it finds its food, its shelter and its neighbors. Biologists have a name for an [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal)’s home ground.

## 11.1 Habitats

**Definition 11.1 (Habitat).**

The *habitat* of an [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) is the kind of place where it naturally lives and finds everything it needs: food, water, shelter, and a safe spot for its young. The pond, the forest, the meadow, the hedge and the seashore are habitats.

**Example 11.2 (Four habitats, four neighborhoods).**

In the *pond*: frogs, dragonflies, sticklebacks, pond snails. In the *forest*: squirrels, deer, woodpeckers, wood ants. In the *meadow*: rabbits, grasshoppers, butterflies, field mice. Under the stones of an old *wall*: woodlice, spiders, sometimes a lizard sunning itself on top.

![The pond habitat with two of its inhabitants at home: a frog on a lily pad, a dragonfly on patrol.](https://one-course.com/images/onecourse/chapters/biology-1/g2-where-animals-live/img-ff3ff7b25943.jpg)

*The pond [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) with two of its inhabitants at home: a frog on a lily pad, a dragonfly on patrol.*

![Three habitats and some of their inhabitants. Try swapping them — the squirrel would not last long in the pond.](https://one-course.com/images/onecourse/chapters/biology-1/g2-where-animals-live/fig-808b2d32723c.svg)

*Three [habitats](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) and some of their inhabitants. Try swapping them — the squirrel would not last long in the pond.*

**Remark 11.3 (One habitat, many homes).**

A [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) has many corners. In the one forest, the woodpecker lives high on the trunks, the squirrel in the [branches](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/3-plants-around-us#def-g1-plants-around-us-tree), the deer among the bushes, and the wood ants on the ground in their heaped nest. Same forest, different floors — so many [animals](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) can share one [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) without crowding.

## 11.2 Fitted to the habitat

**Proposition 11.4 (Animals fit their habitat).**

An [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal)’s body and habits fit the place it lives:

- the frog’s webbed feet push water — made for the pond;
- the squirrel’s gripping claws and big balancing tail are made for trees;
- the rabbit’s digging paws and long warning [ears](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/5-the-five-senses#def-g1-the-five-senses-sense) are made for open meadow with burrows below;
- the duck’s [feathers](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-covering) shed water, and its webbed feet paddle.

Moved to the wrong [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat), an [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) loses these advantages.

**Proof.** *Admitted at this level.* ∎

**Example 11.5 (The mole’s equipment).**

The mole lives underground, in tunnels it digs beneath the meadow. Its hands are wide digging shovels, its [fur](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-covering) lies flat in both directions so soil never ruffles it, and its weak [eyes](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/5-the-five-senses#def-g1-the-five-senses-sense) hardly matter in the dark. Above ground it is clumsy; in its own [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) it is a champion.

**Method 11.6 (Matching an animal to its habitat).**

Given an unfamiliar [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal):

1. look at its equipment: webbed feet? claws? wings? digging paws?
2. ask what it eats, and where that food is found;
3. ask where it can shelter and raise young;
4. the [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) that answers all three is its likely home.

## 11.3 Habitats can be lost

**Proposition 11.7 (No habitat, no inhabitants).**

An [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) cannot live without its [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat). If a pond is filled in, its frogs and dragonflies disappear with it; if a hedge is torn out, the birds that nested there lose their shelter. Protecting [animals](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) starts with protecting the places they live.

**Proof.** *Admitted at this level.* ∎

**Example 11.8 (The school pond).**

A school digs a small pond in a corner of the yard. Within two years, dragonflies patrol it, pond skaters walk on it, and frogs have moved in — nobody brought them. Make the [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat), and the inhabitants find it.

**Remark 11.9 (Looking without disturbing).**

Visiting a [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat), we are guests. Watch quietly, turn stones back the way you found them, leave [eggs](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/8-how-animals-grow-up#def-g2-animals-grow-up-born) and nests alone, and carry your litter home — the [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) should forget you were there. The next chapters give more ways to care for nature.

## 11.4 Exercises

**Exercise 11.1 ★.**

What is a [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat)? Name the four things an [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) finds in it.

**Solution of Exercise 11.1.**

The kind of place where an [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) naturally lives. It finds there its food, water, shelter, and a safe spot for its young.

**Exercise 11.2 ★.**

Give two [animals](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) of the pond, two of the forest, and two of the meadow.

**Solution of Exercise 11.2.**

Pond: frog, dragonfly (or stickleback, pond snail). Forest: squirrel, woodpecker (or deer, wood ant). Meadow: rabbit, grasshopper (or butterfly, field mouse).

**Exercise 11.3 ★.**

Which [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) fits each [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal): the stickleback, the woodpecker, the grasshopper, the woodlouse?

**Solution of Exercise 11.3.**

Stickleback: the pond. Woodpecker: the forest. Grasshopper: the meadow. Woodlouse: under the stones of an old wall (damp hidden corners).

**Exercise 11.4 ★.**

What is the frog’s swimming equipment? And the squirrel’s tree-climbing equipment?

**Solution of Exercise 11.4.**

The frog: webbed feet that push water. The squirrel: gripping claws and a big balancing tail.

**Exercise 11.5 ★.**

List the mole’s three pieces of underground equipment from [Example 11.5](#ex-g2-where-animals-live-mole).

**Solution of Exercise 11.5.**

Wide digging shovel-hands; [fur](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-covering) lying flat both ways so soil never ruffles it; [eyes](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/5-the-five-senses#def-g1-the-five-senses-sense) it hardly needs in the dark.

**Exercise 11.6 ★.**

In [Remark 11.3](#rem-g2-where-animals-live-layers), which “floor” of the forest does each [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) use: woodpecker, squirrel, deer, wood ant?

**Solution of Exercise 11.6.**

Woodpecker: high on the trunks. Squirrel: in the [branches](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/3-plants-around-us#def-g1-plants-around-us-tree). Deer: among the bushes. Wood ant: on the ground, in its heaped nest.

**Exercise 11.7 ★.**

What happens to the frogs and dragonflies when a pond is filled in? What does that teach about protecting [animals](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal)?

**Solution of Exercise 11.7.**

They disappear with the pond — without the [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) they lose food, shelter and breeding place all at once. So protecting [animals](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) starts with protecting the places they live.

**Exercise 11.8 ★.**

Try it: choose one small [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) near you — under a stone, a bush, a flowerbed. Watch quietly and list every [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) you see in a fixed time. Put each stone back. How many inhabitants did your little [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) have?

**Solution of Exercise 11.8.**

Open answer. Even a single turned stone often shelters woodlice, ants, a beetle, sometimes a centipede — small [habitats](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) are surprisingly full.

**Exercise 11.9 ★★.**

A mystery [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) has webbed feet, dense [feathers](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-covering) that shed water, and a flat beak for sifting. Use [Method 11.6](#met-g2-where-animals-live-matching) to name its [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) — and perhaps the [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal).

**Solution of Exercise 11.9.**

Webbed feet (paddling), water-shedding [feathers](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-covering), a sifting beak: all three point to water — a pond or lake [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat). The [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) is very likely a duck.

**Exercise 11.10 ★★.**

Tom wants to “help” a frog by taking it home to a dry terrarium with plenty of food. Using [Proposition 11.4](#prop-g2-where-animals-live-fit) and [Proposition 11.7](#prop-g2-where-animals-live-loss), explain why this would not help the frog at all.

**Solution of Exercise 11.10.**

The frog’s equipment — webbed feet, moist [skin](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/5-the-five-senses#def-g1-the-five-senses-sense), a body made for water and damp banks — is useless in a dry box, and its [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat) gave it more than food: water for its [skin](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/5-the-five-senses#def-g1-the-five-senses-sense) and its [eggs](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/8-how-animals-grow-up#def-g2-animals-grow-up-born), hiding places, other frogs. Kindness to a wild [animal](https://one-course.com/books/biology/1/en/chapter/2-animals-around-us#def-g1-animals-around-us-animal) is leaving it in — or returning it to — its [habitat](#def-g2-where-animals-live-habitat).