Dungheap in the centre of animal's lair (6)

I believe the answer is:

midden

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'dungheap in the centre of animal's lair' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'dungheap in the centre of animal's lair' is the wordplay.
'dungheap' becomes 'id' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'in the' is an insertion indicator.
'centre of' indicates the central letters.
'animal' becomes 'emu' (emu is a kind of animal).
'lair' becomes 'den' (synonyms).
The centre of 'emu' is 'm'.
'm'+'den'='mden'
'id' placed into 'mden' is 'MIDDEN'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for midden that I've seen before include "A heap of dung or rubbish heap" , "Manure heap" , "Refuse heap" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.