49Outside, the rain and wind continued to batter the desert.
Over the hill, near the river, the skunk—who like many wild creatures had sensed the storm was approaching—scurried into the far reaches of her den. She had not built the tunnel system that spread below the hollow log, but she had been happy to move in when the creature that did abandoned the burrow.
Thunder cracked and the skunk scooted down a passageway and into a snug, dry corner. Though heavy rain pounded above, the dirt was good at absorbing water, so rarely did the tunnel get wet. The den had also been built on a slope, so the entryway was a gentle incline. On the rare occasion water ran inside the burrow, it would quickly drain out.
But the skunk had not counted on the deleterious effects of sustained rain in the mounta
