Florida mammals

Northeastern Marsh Rice Rat in Florida

Oryzomys palustris

Native to Florida S5 Secure in Florida

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

Live northeastern marsh rice rat peering out from dense dry grass and green shootsNortheastern Marsh Rice Rat (Oryzomys palustris)Marsh rice rat in profile walking across wire mesh, white feet and long tail visible
Photo: Alex Stach · CC BY 4.0Live northeastern marsh rice rat peering out from dense dry grass and green shootsPhoto: Joseph Hubbard · CC BY 4.0Northeastern Marsh Rice Rat (Oryzomys palustris)Photo: Southeast Ecological Science Center, USGS · Public domainMarsh rice rat in profile walking across wire mesh, white feet and long tail visible

Northeastern Marsh Rice Rat in Florida, by the numbers

Occasional in Florida 72nd most recorded of 116 mammals logged in Florida

960 occurrence records
20 with iNaturalist photos
Feb 16, 2026 Last seen in Florida

960 total records count every Florida occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 859 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Northeastern Marsh Rice Rat in Florida

Most sightings fall in March.

859 Florida occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Florida records (table)
MonthRecords
January54
February82
March247
April104
May40
June17
July59
August68
September33
October33
November54
December68

Monthly northeastern marsh rice rat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Florida.

Seasonality

Year-round in Florida, with recorded sightings peaking in March.

Occurrence map

Where Northeastern Marsh Rice Rat has been recorded in Florida

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

295 Florida records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Everglades National Park 15
Big Cypress National Preserve 10
Picayune Strand State Forest 7
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park 6
Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area 3
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge 1
Cary State Forest 1
Ocala National Forest 1

Protected places with the most northeastern marsh rice rat 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 Florida

CountyRecords
Marion County 178
Alachua County 95
Lee County 64
Brevard County 56
Citrus County 56
Monroe County 53
Levy County 48
Indian River County 46
Miami-Dade County 40
Pinellas County 31
St. Johns County 28
Leon County 26
34 other counties 239

The complete county distribution, spread across 46 Florida counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Florida has 960 records of the northeastern marsh rice rat, but only 20 come from iNaturalist. The other 952 are GBIF specimen and survey records, so this list reflects museum and trapping data more than casual sightings. It’s native to Florida and NatureServe ranks it S5, Secure.

March produces the highest monthly count, with 247 records, well ahead of every other month. That spike likely traces back to a specific survey or trapping effort rather than a true seasonal surge, and the quieter months don’t mean the rat disappears from its marsh habitat.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Live northeastern marsh rice rat peering out from dense dry grass and green shoots
Full species profile Northeastern Marsh Rice Rat Oryzomys palustris Size 14.2 cm5.6 in Weight 50 g1.8 oz Lifespan Up to 2.4 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Florida in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources: