California mammals

Spiny pocket mouse in California

Chaetodipus spinatus

Native to California SNR Unranked in California

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

Spiny pocket mouse foraging on leaf litter at night, dark eye and long whiskers visibleSpiny Pocket Mouse (Chaetodipus spinatus)
Photo: MarvalPhotography19 · CC BY 4.0Spiny pocket mouse foraging on leaf litter at night, dark eye and long whiskers visiblePhoto: Diego Maldonado de la Torre · CC BY 4.0Spiny Pocket Mouse (Chaetodipus spinatus)

Spiny pocket mouse in California, by the numbers

Occasional in California 146th most recorded of 241 mammals logged in California

904 occurrence records
35 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

904 total records count every California occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 890 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Spiny pocket mouse in California

Most sightings fall in March to April.

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

Monthly California records (table)
MonthRecords
January18
February45
March159
April202
May46
June18
July53
August144
September72
October60
November40
December33

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

Seasonality

Year-round in California, with recorded sightings peaking in March–April, with a smaller rise in August.

Occurrence map

Where Spiny pocket mouse has been recorded in California

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 California records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Joshua Tree National Park 44
Little Picacho Wilderness Area 43
Riverside Mountains Wilderness Area 27
Santa Rosa And San Jacinto National Monument 25
Mecca Hills Wilderness Area 13
Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness Area 13
Mojave National Preserve 6
Picacho State Recreation Area 6

Protected places with the most spiny 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 California

CountyRecords
Imperial County 330
Riverside County 322
San Diego County 167
San Bernardino County 72
Inyo County 1
Other localities 12

The complete county distribution, spread across 5 California counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

California’s combined state files contain 930 Spiny pocket mouse records: 35 from iNaturalist and 895 from GBIF. It ranks 148th among 243 mammals in this California record comparison, placing it in the middle third. That’s a ranking of submitted records, not a head count of animals.

The monthly series reaches its high point in October, with 13 records in the busiest month. Records appear in 11 of 12 months, so the pattern shows when sightings were documented, not when the species must be present or absent.

California accounts for about 100% of the mapped GBIF records summarized on the national Spiny pocket mouse page. That’s a large share of the known record footprint, though differences in survey effort can strongly shape the percentage.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Spiny pocket mouse foraging on leaf litter at night, dark eye and long whiskers visible
Full species profile Spiny pocket mouse Chaetodipus spinatus Size 8.4 cm3.3 in Weight 13–18 g0.5–0.6 oz Lifespan Up to 1.3 yr View the full profile

More mammals in California 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"