November 30, 2017
My favorite. I first noticed the woodrat at this rock, looking out from the fortress of cholla it built its house from. But, he was too fast and every time I put the light on it the woodrat disappeared before I could shoot. I tried another method, prefocus on the rock, and just shoot with flash randomly until I got the woodrat, not using the flashlight. I had no idea if the woodrat was there or not, until I looked at the photo. It finally worked.
The woodrat got braver as the night went on. When the moon came out from behind the clouds, it would not come out in the open. But when the moon was covered by clouds, the woodrat would come out again.
In the Sonoran Desert, Western White-throated Woodrats build a nest from cholla cactus pieces. Anyone who has any experience with cholla knows how nasty it is, yet these little animals can run through it and climb over it with no problem.
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