The cotton mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae[3] found in the woodlands of the US South.

[5] Another subspecies, the Key Largo cotton mouse (P. g. allapaticola) is currently on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered species.

It makes use of a variety of habitats, including hardwood forests, swamps, the margins of cleared fields, edges of salt savanna and dunes, scrub, and rocky bluffs and ledges.

[1] Cotton mice use underground refuges such as stump holes, tree cavities, root boles, and burrows where they can avoid predators and wild fires.

The cotton mouse shows broader selection in choosing refuges as they switch from one to the other, which is suggested to be the most significant component for such relationship to be possible.