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 130th most recorded of 241 mammals logged in California

1,671 occurrence records
63 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

1,671 total records count every California occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 1,588 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Desert Pocket Mouse in California

Most sightings fall in March to April.

1,588 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
January92
February92
March363
April273
May127
June90
July49
August192
September83
October100
November49
December78

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.

Occurrence map

Where Desert Pocket Mouse has been recorded in California

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 California records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Death Valley National Park 22
Mojave Trails National Monument 18
Riverside Mountains Wilderness Area 16
Santa Rosa And San Jacinto National Monument 15
Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness Area 15
Joshua Tree National Park 13
Indian Pass Wilderness Area 10
Carrizo Gorge Wilderness Area 8

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 548
Imperial County 433
San Diego County 348
San Bernardino County 202
Inyo County 41
Los Angeles County 22
Merced County 1
Santa Barbara County 1
Kern County 1
Other localities 74

The complete county distribution, spread across 9 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"