Pallid bat

Antrozous pallidus

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata (critters with pharyngeal slits and a dorsal nerve chord)
Subphylum Vertebrata (backboned)
Class Mammalia (that's us!)
Order Chiroptera (bats!)
Family Vespertilionidae (evening bats - from the latin vesper)
Genus Antrozous (from Latin antro, cave or hole)
Species pallidus (pallid, or pale)

What a cutie! Click for large.
(Credit)

Via Living the Scientific Life comes this lovely picture of a pallid bat.

This is a large bat, about five-six inches body and fifteen-inch wingspan. Their coloration is usually described as beige to white. They live in the North American west coast and range into Texas. They are slow flyers who come out later at night than most bats who emerge at dusk.

Interestingly these guys often feed on the ground. They eat a lot of non-flying arthropods like crickets, scorpions and grasshoppers, which they capture and bring back to their roost to eat.