New Mexico mammals

Plains pocket mouse in New Mexico

Perognathus flavescens

Native to New Mexico S5 Secure in New Mexico

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

Apache pocket mouse, a subspecies of the plains pocket mouse, eating seeds on sandy groundPlains pocket mouse standing among rocks and dry grass in daylightPlains pocket mouse resting in dry grass litterPlains pocket mouse close-up on gravel showing tail and rounded ear
Photo: US National Park Service · Public domainApache pocket mouse, a subspecies of the plains pocket mouse, eating seeds on sandy groundPhoto: Tom Kennedy · CC BY 4.0Plains pocket mouse standing among rocks and dry grass in daylightPhoto: Abby Benson · CC0Plains pocket mouse resting in dry grass litterPhoto: Emily Geest · CC BY 4.0Plains pocket mouse close-up on gravel showing tail and rounded ear

Plains pocket mouse in New Mexico, by the numbers

Common in New Mexico 23rd most recorded of 176 mammals logged in New Mexico

837 occurrence records
2 with iNaturalist photos
Dec 14, 2018 Last seen in New Mexico

Records from 2000–2026.

837 total records count every New Mexico occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 831 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Plains pocket mouse in New Mexico

Most sightings fall in October.

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

Monthly New Mexico records (table)
MonthRecords
January12
February13
March6
April16
May16
June193
July160
August104
September65
October202
November35
December9

Monthly plains pocket mouse occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in New Mexico, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in New Mexico, with recorded sightings peaking in October, with a smaller rise in June–July.

Occurrence map

Where Plains pocket mouse has been recorded in New Mexico

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 New Mexico records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument 6
White Sands National Park 3
State Trust Land 3
El Morro National Monument 2
Apache Kid Wilderness 2
Chaco Culture National Historical Park 1
Navajo Lake State Park 1

Protected places with the most plains 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 New Mexico

CountyRecords
Socorro County 396
San Juan County 119
Otero County 87
Bernalillo County 56
McKinley County 42
Sandoval County 42
Chaves County 13
Lea County 12
Rio Arriba County 12
Valencia County 9
Santa Fe County 8
Cibola County 5
11 other counties 36

The complete county distribution, spread across 23 New Mexico counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Plains pocket mouse reports follow New Mexico’s open basins from White Sands north toward Sevilleta. Bosque del Apache sits between them along the Rio Grande, linking sandy and grassy ground across a long desert corridor.

May through August carries most of the reporting rise. Warm-season fieldwork can expose this night-active mouse to more survey effort, but it doesn’t show when numbers are highest. Open soil matters more than park boundaries, and unvisited flats can disappear from the record despite suitable habitat.

Occurrence data from GBIF.

Apache pocket mouse, a subspecies of the plains pocket mouse, eating seeds on sandy ground
Full species profile Plains pocket mouse Perognathus flavescens Size 6.9 cm2.7 in Weight 9 g0.3 oz Lifespan Up to 5 yr View the full profile

More mammals in New Mexico 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"