Gerbils spend the hottest part of the day in underground burrows to escape the heat, while darkling beetles catch drops of moisture on their legs and lift them into their mouths. Rattlesnakes eat small animals like mice and chipmunks, and can survive for over a year without eating, while camels can go up to ten months without drinking water and get moisture from desert plants.

1. Desert Animals
Before we proceed:
 You might have heard about desert. There are
many deserts in the world. Desert may be cool
and hot both. The hottest desert on the earth is
‘Sahara Desert’ and the example of cool desert in
India is ‘Laddakh Desert’.
 Many animals live in these deserts. Who are
they? How do they survive in the harsh conditions
of the desert?

2. Desert Animals

Deserts are the driest places on the earth
and lack rain. Deserts are without rain
for months or even years.

The animals that live in deserts have
developed their ability to require less
water.

3. Desert Animals
For Example:
 Gerbils
spend the hottest
part of the day in their
underground burrows.

Darkling beetles catches
drops of moisture on their
legs and lift them into the
air and drops down into
their mouth.

4. Desert Animals
All deserts are not full of
sand dunes. Some are rocky,
pebbly and dotted with
small bushes and flowers
too.
 There are more than 2300
kinds of snake around the
world. Some of them are
very poisonous and some of
them are harmless.
 Most snakes lay eggs but
some give birth to their
young ones too.


5. Desert Animals

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In the dry, rocky deserts of America lives a
snake called ‘Rattle snake’. It can be found
in Canada and Argentina too.
It is called rattle snake because it make a
sound with its tail.
But it can not hear the noise of its own tail
makes.
Like most snakes, it hears things through
vibrations in the ground.
Rattle snake eats mice, voles, rats,
chipmunks and many other small animals.
It kill them with venom and swallow the
animals whole like many snakes.
Few snakes eat more than once a week but
the larger one like Python can survive for a
year without eating.

6. Desert Animals
Comprehension Check:

Which desert animal spend the hottest part of
the day in burrows or holes?

How do darkling beetles fulfil their need of
water?

What does the rattle snake eat?

Can rattle snake hear the noise of its own tail ?

Which snake can survive for a year without
eating?

7. Desert Animals
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Another animal which lives in desert
is Mongoose. Mongooses love to go in
search of food together.
They eat beetles, millipedes and
other small creatures.
They are famous for being able to
kill snakes without getting hurt.
All the female mongooses have their
kitten at about the same time.
The kittens are raised by the whole
group. When most of the adults go
out for food one or two males stand
behind to guard them.

8. Desert Animals

Another animal which lives in desert is the camel.
They have long shaggy coats to keep warm in
winter and shorter, tidier coats in the summer to
keep cool.

A thirsty camel can drink 30 gallons of water that
is equal to 500 full glasses in just 10 minutes.

Normally it gets all the moisture it needs from
desert plants and can survive for up to ten months
without drinking water.

9. Desert Animals

There are two different kinds
of camel in the desert. One is
called ‘the Dromedary’. It has
only single hump. The other
one is called ‘Bactrian camel’
and has two humps.

People usually think that
camel’s hump is a storage
container and it store water in
it. But it is not true. Actually
humps are full of fat. This fat
nourishes the camels when
they have nothing to eat.

10. Desert Animals

If they have nothing to eat for many days, their
humps shrink because fat is used by them. There
are many other ways in which camels are adapted
to desert life. For example: their mouths are so
tough that even the sharp thorn can not hurt
them.

11. Desert Animals
Comprehension Check:

Which desert animal goes in search of food
in a group?

What do the mongooses eat?

How many gallons of water a camel can
drink in 10 minutes?

Do camels store water in their humps?