The Raven's Friend

A raven and a Harris’s antelope squirrel met as youngsters while the injured bird recovered near the ground-dweller’s burrow. Because the squawks and flapping wings scared the snakes away, the squirrel provided food for her protector. Dressed up for one of his frequent visits, she wears a scrap of cactus fiber to secure chuparosa, a mojave aster, wands of purple three-awn, and a devil’s claw. Fuzzy creosote fruits, bangles of fairy duster pods, and tiny datura seeds adorn her neck and arms. She treasures the feather that the raven gave her as a token of his friendship.