Southern deer mouse is one of several regional names applied to Peromyscus maniculatus, and the name can mislead: it’s the same wide-ranging species people simply call the deer mouse elsewhere, not a distinct southern form. In the field it also overlaps in size and coloring with the white-footed mouse and other Peromyscus, so a sharply bicolored tail and grayish-brown back are the clues worth trusting, not a spot on a map.
Records here are unusually thick for a small rodent, climbing from single digits in early spring to 1,500 in June and staying above 600 through October before dropping off sharply in November and December. That summer surge tracks field survey season and breeding activity more than a true summer-only presence; deer mice stay active through Kansas winters, just less visible and less studied then.
Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge anchor the western end of the reporting, wetland complexes where the upland grass and scrub bordering the marsh give this generalist mouse the cover and seed it needs.
Full species profile
