Troglodytic rodents

California pocket mouse, Chaetodipus californicus

 

Three species of rodents came to the cave, but none was a frequent visitor. 

The pocket mouse, photographed on three different nights seems to have done a little digging and dust bathing. 

   

Digging and dust bathing in the fine sand. 

There is also a series of pictures where the sand magically forms a crater, and our best guess is that a dust bathing pocket mouse was out-of-site doing the work.  

The short-tail of this pocket mouse is an aberration due to the angle.

Two long-tailed species of deer mice have been recorded in the area: the Pinyon mouse (P. truei) and the Brush mouse (P. boylei). 

The Pinyon mouse also has big ears and a dorsal tail stripe that is less than 1/3rd the circumference of the tail.

This looks like a Pinyon mouse -- and a handsome mouse it is.

 

Pinyon mouse (Peromyscus truei), a species of foothill woodland and juniper woodland. 

 

Our old freind the dusky-footed wood rat appeared only once. 

Dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes)