South Dakota mammals

Bushy-tailed Woodrat in South Dakota

Neotoma cinerea

Native to South Dakota S5 Secure in South Dakota

Not listed as nonindigenous in South Dakota by USGS NAS; native to its South Dakota range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Bushy-tailed woodrat peering from forest floor cover at Oregon CavesBushy-tailed woodrat looking out from a rocky crevice at nightBushy-tailed woodrat partly hidden in lichen-covered talus
Photo: Oregon Caves National Monument · CC BY 2.0Bushy-tailed woodrat peering from forest floor cover at Oregon CavesPhoto: Logan Stecker · CC0Bushy-tailed woodrat looking out from a rocky crevice at nightPhoto: ribes2018 · CC BY 4.0Bushy-tailed woodrat partly hidden in lichen-covered talus

Bushy-tailed Woodrat in South Dakota, by the numbers

Occasional in South Dakota 39th most recorded of 100 mammals logged in South Dakota

20 occurrence records
3 with iNaturalist photos
Jul 26, 2025 Last seen in South Dakota

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Bushy-tailed Woodrat in South Dakota

Most sightings fall in June.

20 South Dakota occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence. Based on a small number of dated records; the seasonal pattern may not be representative.

Monthly South Dakota records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April1
May0
June13
July6
August0
September0
October0
November0
December0

Monthly bushy-tailed woodrat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in South Dakota, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in South Dakota, with recorded sightings peaking in June.

Occurrence map

Where Bushy-tailed Woodrat has been recorded in South Dakota

20 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

20 South Dakota records mapped

Where it's recorded in South Dakota

CountyRecords
Pennington County 13
Lawrence County 5
Harding County 2

The complete county distribution, spread across 3 South Dakota counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Bushy-tailed woodrats show one of the starkest source imbalances in this South Dakota dataset: 20 GBIF records against just 3 from iNaturalist, meaning trapping and specimen surveys, not casual sightings, document essentially everything known about this rock-crevice specialist in the state. NatureServe rates the population S5, secure, fitting a species tied to the Black Hills’ granite outcrops and canyon walls.

June and July together account for 19 of the year’s 20 monthly-tallied records, essentially the entire year’s total, a pattern that plausibly reflects a concentrated summer trapping survey rather than any real seasonal explosion in woodrat activity, since this species is active year-round rather than migratory.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Bushy-tailed woodrat peering from forest floor cover at Oregon Caves
Full species profile Bushy-tailed Woodrat Neotoma cinerea Size 22.7 cm8.9 in Weight 286 g10.1 oz Lifespan Up to 5.8 yr View the full profile

More mammals in South Dakota in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries