Pocket Mice (Chaetodipus/Perognathus sp.) & Packrat (Neotoma sp.) ID- Portal, Arizona
Good day mammal watchers! Hoping for some species level identification help with the photos below. They were taken at night in Portal, Arizona right outside Cave Creek Ranch.
The Southwestern Research Station mentions these species as present in the area.
Silky Pocket Mouse (Perognathus flavus)
Arizona Pocket Mouse (Peroghathus amplus)
Bailey’s Pocket Mouse (Perognathus baileyi)
Hispid Pocket Mouse (Perognathus hispidus)
Desert Pocket Mouse Perognathus penicillatus)
Rock Pocket Mouse Perognathus intermedius)
White-throated Woodrat (Neotoma albigula)
Mexican Woodrat (Neotoma mexicana)
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Venkat Sankar
I’ll give these a try… Both the pocket mice are coarse-haired so they’re members of Chaetodipus. The larger one must be C. baileyi (too big to be anything else, by comparison). The smaller one is harder–most likely C. penicillatus, but I guess it could also be intermedius (which I’ve never seen).
I guess the woodrat is N. albigula, but I have no experience with mexicana…