The southern deer mouse turns up across a strikingly wide slice of New Mexico habitat, from Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge’s wetlands to the Rio Grande corridor’s river bottomlands to the desert-edge scrub around Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Few small mammals in the state show up in that many different settings, a reflection of how adaptable this mouse is to nearly anything with cover and a seed source.
Monthly counts climb steadily from spring into a strong July through September peak, with September alone topping 1,100 records, then fall away fast after October. That summer surge tracks the mouse’s breeding season and the stretch of the year when field biologists and casual observers alike are most likely to be out trapping, netting, or simply looking.
Full species profile
