burrow

Because rats live in drains, sewers and burrows, and emerge mostly at night, counting them is nearly impossible, so estimates on rat population figures vary.

When they hatch, the maggots — which are called screwworms — “have these little sharp teeth or hooks in their mouths, and they chomp away at the flesh and burrow,” Chin-Hong said.

But my thinking evolved as I burrowed deeper into the science.

The eggs hatch into maggots which burrow into the wound or the membrane, feeding on the living flesh.

Twentynine Palms, Calif. — Desert tortoise burrows dot Cindy Bernard’s property in Indian Cove, a sprawling residential neighborhood just outside Joshua Tree National Park.