Cotton mice are close relatives of the white-footed mouse, distinguished mainly by a slightly larger body and a longer tail, and Florida’s more than 4,400 records trace forested and wetland ground, state forests, river and spring parks, and Everglades National Park, the only site with enough sightings to register in the named-place tally.
Just 153 of the 4,440 records come from iNaturalist, with the rest from GBIF, a fair reflection of a small, strictly nocturnal rodent that rarely crosses paths with a camera. Records climb sharply into a March peak, nearly triple the January low, likely tracking late-winter breeding activity more than any single season of heaviest foraging. NatureServe rates the species secure (S5) across Florida.
Full species profile
