Cotton mice are close relatives of the white-footed mouse, distinguished mainly by a slightly larger body and a longer tail, and Florida’s 1,454 records lean heavily on a single research site: Ordway-Swisher Biological Station in Putnam County accounts for 991, with smaller numbers from Polk, Osceola, and Highlands counties and scattered parks from Florida Caverns State Park in the Panhandle to Biscayne National Park.
Just 154 of the 1,454 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 April, peak in May, and stay high through July, with a smaller rise in September, a pattern that likely tracks when trapping surveys run as much as any breeding season. NatureServe rates the species secure (S5) across Florida.
Full species profile
