Neotoma cinerea

Suprisingly (at least to us), we were once again visited by a Neotoma cinerea aka Bushy Tailed Wood-rat aka Pack Rat. Albeit this time it was a somewhat pleasant & amusing encounter. We were sitting in the Cardinal last evening about 8:00 p.m. with the door open including the screen as there are no misquotes or flies to worry about. Teddy was working on a jigsaw puzzle and I was in the midst of the daily newspaper crossword when out of my peripheral vision I saw a little furry animal scamper into the door. I yelped at Teddy, "What was that!". She turned just in time to see him turn around and hightail it back out of the door. We chuckled in amazement & thought that that was the end of it, but to our amazement he/she popped in and out three more times in the next ten minutes as we sat quietly and watched. At that point I fetched my camera but as is always the case when you are ready with camera in hand, he didn't appear again. They are cute little animals but can be quite destructive with their nest building activities so we aren't going to invite him back again. Needless to say, we closed the door before retiring.