Talk:Burrow

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Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment[edit]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 4 September 2019 and 27 November 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Sarahkwhelan. Peer reviewers: Sburton17, Rp8848.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 16:25, 16 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Derivation of the word burrow[edit]

There is a suggestion that the words bunny and burrow have a common origin and meaning, French in origin appearing in Britain after the Norman Conquest, being a possible explanation for the phrase bunny rabbit. Bunny also means "a collection of ore without a seam running to or from it". There is a common Cornish family name of Bunny/Bunney who are historically linked to the mining of iron ore.

Removed this section because no dictionary or online source such as etymonline.com seems to support this opinion provided without a source and which sounds like a private theory. --Espoo 05:48, 30 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]


The following facts speak against the otherwise quite queer suggestion that bunny and burrow could have any etymological relation at all. According to my Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary (ISBN 0-671--41819-X):
  • A bunny is a rabbit, or a pet name used by children. Diminutive of bun, Gaelic for a stock, a short, thick person or animal.
  • A burrow is a hollow place in the earth dug by an animal, or any hole or tunnel in the ground, or also a mound outside a mine. From Middle English borow, a hole for shelter, or a mound. Earlier Anglo Saxon beorh, a mound.
Kind regards, Zack Holly Venturi 19:42, 13 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Why do they not collapse?[edit]

Why do tunnels dug into dirt not simply collapse immediately and crush the animal? I legitimately don't understand this. If I made an exact copy of a hillside with an earthmover and then deliberately left a big hole in it, i would expect the structure to fall in on itself or possibly even collapse entirely. Soap 06:01, 11 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Editing[edit]

Hi everyone, I am editing this page as a part of a class project for a third year university Biology course. I have added a few new sections (Types of Burrows, and Protection). I have also added some information to existing portions of the article, including some citations and additional examples. I have copied this work from my sandbox, which can be found at this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Sarahkwhelan/Burrow. Any suggestions or edits are certainly welcome! Sarahkwhelan (talk) 01:39, 18 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I still am curious. Is there anything we can do to explain better why groundhog burrows, and other large ones, do not collapse? Soap 01:39, 26 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Burrow[edit]

Ft g 123.231.87.247 (talk) 08:08, 15 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]