Aardvarks live in grasslands and dry places in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. The aardvark can reach a length of 6 feet (1.8 meters). Its head has huge donkeylike ears, a long snout, and drooping eyelids with long lashes. During the day aardvarks sleep in underground burrows. At night they dig underground for their favorite food, termites. They break open the termites’ nests with their massive, flattened claws and suck up the insects with their long tongues.