California mammals

Desert Pocket Mouse in California

Chaetodipus penicillatus

Native to California SNR Unranked in California

Not listed as nonindigenous in California by USGS NAS; native to its California 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.

Desert Pocket Mouse in California, by the numbers

Occasional in California 125th most recorded of 233 mammals logged in California

157 occurrence records
64 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

157 total records count every California occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 153; the monthly chart covers the 153 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Desert Pocket Mouse in California

Most sightings fall in March to April.

153 California occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly California records (table)
MonthRecords
January4
February5
March25
April32
May12
June27
July4
August6
September16
October14
November7
December1

Monthly desert pocket mouse occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in California, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in California, with recorded sightings peaking in March–April, with a smaller rise in June.

Occurrence map

Where Desert Pocket Mouse has been recorded in California

153 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

153 California records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Death Valley National Park 12
Joshua Tree National Park 10
Santa Rosa And San Jacinto National Monument 8
Salton Sea State Recreation Area 1
Heber Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area 1
San Jacinto Wildlife Area 1
Mojave National Preserve 1

Protected places with the most desert pocket mouse sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in California

CountyRecords
Riverside County 49
San Bernardino County 45
San Diego County 25
Imperial County 21
Inyo County 12
Kern County 1
Other localities 4

The complete county distribution, spread across 6 California counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Desert Pocket Mouse records in California fit dry scrub, rocky canyons, and sandy or gravelly ground.

Reports center on the Mojave and Colorado deserts, including Death Valley and the Joshua Tree region. They show where people have documented the species, and they don’t rank California’s best habitat.

Reports rise most clearly in Mar–Apr, Jun. That pattern can reflect animal movements, weather, and observer effort, so it isn’t a population count.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in California 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
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"