A New Mammal for the Yard List – Arizona Cotton Rat

This cute little rodent was just outside the window I look out from my computer desk the other day. I was home for just 3 days, trying to prepare for the next 6 1/2 weeks of leading tours to Arizona, Oregon, and Alaska, so I certainly didn't expect to get a new mammal for my North-Central Tucson yard list. It's an Arizona Cotton Rat, familiar to many who bird Sweetwater Wetlands. Not very closely related the disdained, mostly nocturnal introduced rats from Eurasia, these natives are mostly diurnal.