Cotton mouse reports in Tennessee split between the southeast, where Hamilton County alone holds 30 and neighboring Marion 15 near Chattanooga, and the west, where Gibson and Perry counties hold 16 each and Haywood and Shelby add more. Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge, in Haywood County, combines forest cover with swampy ground, brush, hollow logs, and other shelter this mouse can use from ground level into the trees. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the only named place among the records, with 6.
Reports occur in every month but December, and November stands well above the rest, followed by a smaller rise in May. That uneven pattern may reflect trapping schedules as much as mouse activity, especially because the Tennessee record comes from GBIF rather than iNaturalist observations. It doesn’t measure how many cotton mice live around each refuge.
Full species profile
