Kansas mammals

Hispid Pocket Mouse in Kansas

Chaetodipus hispidus

Native to Kansas S5 Secure in Kansas

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

Hispid Pocket Mouse in Kansas, by the numbers

Common in Kansas 19th most recorded of 93 mammals logged in Kansas

1,109 occurrence records
15 with iNaturalist photos
Jun 17, 2026 Last seen in Kansas

Records from 2000–2026.

1,109 total records count every Kansas occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 1,089 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Hispid Pocket Mouse in Kansas

Most sightings fall in August to September.

1,089 Kansas occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Kansas records (table)
MonthRecords
January3
February6
March4
April8
May53
June94
July139
August231
September373
October136
November34
December8

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Kansas, with recorded sightings peaking in August–September.

Occurrence map

Where Hispid Pocket Mouse has been recorded in Kansas

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Kansas records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Meade State Park 11
Scott Wildlife Area 6
Sherman State Fishing Lake And Wildlife Area 3
Washington State Fishing Lake And Wildlife Area 2
Chase State Fishing Lake And Wildlife Area 2
Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area 1
Clark Wildlife Area 1
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve 1

Protected places with the most hispid 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 Kansas

CountyRecords
Riley County 246
Geary County 60
Ellis County 52
Rawlins County 52
Logan County 50
Meade County 43
Kiowa County 42
Sherman County 40
Trego County 39
Finney County 39
Barber County 37
Phillips County 37
53 other counties 372

The complete county distribution, spread across 65 Kansas counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Hispid pocket mice favor dry, open grassland and sandy or loose soils, especially across western and central Kansas. Prairie preserves and lightly disturbed grasslands can hold them, but this nocturnal seed collector spends the day underground and is seldom encountered without targeted small-mammal surveys.

Its common classification is driven by GBIF data rather than the 15 iNaturalist observations, so it should not be read as an easy-viewing rank. Records extend across the year, with the largest pulse from July through October.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in Kansas 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"