Burrowing Creatures
⚪ Last updated 2022⚠️ Install Order · 6 steps
Install in this order, then this mod last — most mods fail to load without their framework and dependencies in place.
Preview

🔍 Analysis
- 👍 1.9% endorsement rate — high engagement, a strong quality signal
- 🏆 #9 of 30 Creatures mods in this game by downloads
📋 About This Mod
-This mod adds Burrowing Radscorpions, Bark Scorpions, Mole Rats, and Cazadores to the game. Complete with an MCM to toggle what parts of the mod you do and don't want. Radscorpions and Bark Scorpions will burrow in the dirt. Mole Rats you can hear tunneling underneath you. Cazadors make nest in the dirt that can be looted. Excavators are new Cazador variants that can burrow mid combat to close distance on the player. All of these creatures have been added to vanilla leveled list via scripts for maximum compatibility.
-This is a proper merge of my Burrowing Cazadores, and Tunneling Creatures mods.
These mods are part of a series of mods that are focused on integrating new lore friendly creatures into Fallout New Vegas.
-Please post any un-lore friendly and immersion breaking aspects, or inconsistencies with this mod. I want this mod to be as lore friendly and as well integrated as possible. Any feedback is appreciated. :)
-if you wan to learn how to make your own burrowing creatures, I have a tutorial up on nexus now: Burrowing Creatures Modders Resource at Fallout New Vegas - mods and community (nexusmods.com)
New Creature Details:
Young Excavator:
Young Excavators can dig holes and pop up behind, or under the player mid combat and will try to dodge the players attacks when in close proximity.
(All Excavator Variants can do this. and have the ability to flee combat, and burrow back underground.)
Excavator:
Adult Excavators can spawn "Hot-Kake's" (Baby Excavators) to aid in combat.
Hot-Kake:
Hot-Kake's (Baby Excavators) are tiny Excavators that pop out to help Adult Excavators
Small Glowing Excavator:
Small Glowing Excavators will spawn up to 2 Radioactive Hot-Kake's that will run at the player and emit an explosion from there body before burrowing back underground.
Glowing Excavator:
Glowing Excavators will spawn up to 7 Radioactive Hot-Kake's
Radioactive Hot-Kake:
Radioactive Hot-Kake's will run at you and emit radioactive waves from there body when they get close. This is physically exhausting for them to do, so they burrow back underground right after.
Cazador Nest:
-Cazador Nest are small burrows that Cazadores dig, and cover with dirt to stay hidden from the out side world.
-Cazadores will attack anyone who gets to close. firing your weapon while in close proximity to a Nest may also alert the Cazador inside.
-Nest have a chance to spawn vanilla Cazadores along with any of the new Excavator variants.
- They are hand placed around the map, and can be Destroyed, and looted.
- Your sneak skill wil
Burrowing Creatures adds the Fallout 4 burrowing mechanic, a Cazador nest, and several new creatures to Fallout: New Vegas, with an MCM menu to toggle features. It's a popular creature expansion mod with 652 endorsements and over 34,000 downloads, last updated in November 2022.
✨ Key Features
📊 Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Solid community backing with 652 endorsements and over 34k downloads.
- MCM integration lets you tailor the mod to your taste—disable what you don't want.
- Brings a fresh mechanic (burrowing) from Fallout 4 into New Vegas, spicing up creature encounters.
⚠️ Cons
- Last updated in 2022—might have compatibility issues with newer mod setups or game patches.
- Requires MCM and likely NVSE—if you don't have those, you'll need to set them up first.
For New Vegas players who want more dynamic creature behavior and are comfortable with mod manager setups. If you're a completionist looking to expand the Mojave's wildlife, this is a solid pick. Skip if you prefer lore-friendly additions or don't want to fiddle with MCM settings.
💡 Beginner Tips
- Make sure you have NVSE and the Mod Configuration Menu installed first—this mod relies on them for the MCM options.
- Use a mod manager like Vortex or Mod Organizer 2 to avoid overwriting files and to easily toggle the mod on/off if issues arise.
- Check the mod's forum posts or comments for any known compatibility patches with popular overhauls like Project Nevada or AWOP.
📊 Mod Details
- Game
- New Vegas Mods
- Author
- Pistol Payback
- Version
- 2.1
- Downloads
- 34,754
- Endorsements
- 652
- Category
- Creatures
- Created
- 12/7/2019
- Updated
- 11/15/2022
🔧 How to Install New Vegas Mods
Download from Nexus.
📖 Full step-by-step install guide for New Vegas →
Visit the official mod page for specific installation instructions for this mod.
🎮 Need cheat codes or console commands? Check ur gaming wiki for New Vegas commands, item IDs, and more.
Keep browsing — more New Vegas mods await