Hispid cotton rats live in Alabama’s thick grasses, weedy fields, marsh borders, and young clearings. Coastal records cluster around Gulf State Park and Bon Secour, while Wheeler refuge and Conecuh National Forest show how the species also follows grassy habitat well inland.
Reports are highest from April through June with another rise in August, when warm-season vegetation and small-mammal survey effort both increase. These rodents usually stay beneath a grass canopy, so woven runways and clipped stems are more likely finds than an unobstructed view.
Full species profile
