Bob DeGroff lives by himself on a remote, 40-acre property in rural Colorado.
But thanks to an unlikely new friend, he no longer feels so alone.
The friendship began in July, in the aftermath of a massive wildfire that forced DeGroff to evacuate his home,
unsure whether it would still be standing when he returned. Fortunately, it survived.
“When I got home a few days later, I saw the damaged area had come right up to the other side of my property,” DeGroff told The Dodo. “[Firefighters] had managed to stop it dead right there.”
Two days later, a stranger appeared, whose life seemed to have been disrupted by the wildfire, too.
“I saw this really raggedy-looking raven walking around in the front yard,” DeGroff said. “I was on the porch, and he just kind of walked up to me and stood there.”
In the decades DeGroff has lived on the property, he’d spotted only one or two ravens in the area. So when this one approached him looking as though he needed help, DeGroff took it as a request for assistance.
“I said, ‘All right, let me help you out,’” DeGroff recalled. “I went and got him a little bowl of water and some food. He wolfed it down, real happy. He hung out for a couple of hours.”
After the two parted ways that day, DeGroff didn’t expect to see the raven again.
But he came back — and then kept coming back.
“Over a period of weeks, he got most of his feathers back,” DeGroff said. “He started to look like an actual raven.”
DeGroff named him Ferris.
Before long, DeGroff and Ferris developed a sweet routine. On mornings when Ferris visits, he often waits outside for DeGroff to wake up.
“I’ll hear him squawking a little after sunrise,” DeGroff said. “When I go out there, he gives me his morning greeting, which is him sticking his wings out and cawing three or four times. He only does that when he sees me first thing in the morning. That’s his ‘howdy,’ I guess. It’s guaranteed to bring me a smile every time.”
At first, Ferris may have returned largely for the food and water DeGroff provided. But as the raven recovered, their connection began to deepen.
“He just got more and more familiar with me, until eventually he would come and sit on my lap while I was out on the porch,” DeGroff said. “I stroked him on the back, and then under the chin a little bit. I think he likes it. Sometimes he’ll squawk if I’m not petting him.”
Ferris occasionally even uses DeGroff's head as a perch.
Sometimes, while DeGroff is working on the property, Ferris will hang out nearby, observing him and his tools.
“He's just curious about everything, wants to examine everything that he sees,” DeGroff said.
Other times, Ferris will disappear for a couple of days, off on “some raven adventure, I guess,” DeGroff said.
But months on, Ferris has never failed to return for time spent with DeGroff.
When Ferris first arrived around the time of the wildfire, it seemed clear that he needed a friend. And in some ways, DeGroff did, too. In the years since his wife passed away, the house and property just hadn’t been the same.
“I just thought, ‘I’m getting used to being all alone now,’” DeGroff said.
Then Ferris arrived.
“He’s a good buddy, and we have conversations,” DeGroff said. “I’m sort of a semi-hermit out here sometimes, and so it’s a good thing to have. He’s interesting. He’s a lot of fun. He keeps my spirits up.”
Still, DeGroff doesn’t consider Ferris his pet. The raven remains entirely free to come and go.
“People say, ‘Oh, you have a raven,’” DeGroff said. “I say, ‘I don’t have him. He’s a friend. He comes by. He hangs out.’”
