Oh! He's so cute!!

OK, cuteness aside, this is a rodent. Like rats, mice, you know, a rodent Rodentia Sciuridae. This is actually a Cliff Chipmunk Tamias dorsalis, also known as: Gray Chipmunk, Gray-backed Chipmunk, Gila Striped Chipmunk, Pallid Chipmunk, Chichimoke, and Chichimuka. But here is the real story about rodents in Northern Arizona, quoted from the Centers for Disease Control:

Wild rodents in certain areas around the world are infected with plague. Outbreaks in people still occur in rural communities or in cities. They are usually associated with infected rats and rat fleas that live in the home. In the United States, the last urban plague epidemic occurred in Los Angeles in 1924-25. Since then, human plague in the United States has occurred as mostly scattered cases in rural areas (an average of 10 to 15 persons each year). Globally, the World Health Organization reports 1,000 to 3,000 cases of plague every year. In North America, plague is found in certain animals and their fleas from the Pacific Coast to the Great Plains, and from southwestern Canada to Mexico. Most human cases in the United States occur in two regions: 1) northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, and southern Colorado; and 2) California, southern Oregon, and far western Nevada. Plague also exists in Africa, Asia, and South America

They may be cute, but they are nothing to play around with.