[7] In the United States, the hispid cotton rat ranges from southern Virginia and North Carolina (especially the coastal plain) west through Tennessee, northern Missouri, Kansas, and extreme southern Nebraska to southeastern Colorado, New Mexico, and southeastern Arizona; south to the Gulf Coast; and south to northern Mexico.
[9] Hispid cotton rats occupy a wide variety of habitats within their range, but are not randomly distributed among microhabitats.
[12] For example, hispid cotton rats may respond favorably to a high percentage of dicots in a stand if cover remains optimal.
[11] In Kansas, remnant prairie the preferred habitat of hispid cotton rats has dense undergrowth and an upper layer of protective vegetation such as big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)/kochia (Kochia scoparia)/annual sunflower (Helianthus annuus).
The use of disturbed areas was probably important in the recent invasion of hispid cotton rats into north-central Kansas from the northern presettlement limit of their range in Oklahoma.
[18] They are occasionally found in habitats dominated by early successional grassland species (i.e., annual grasses and forbs).
[25] In New Mexico, hispid cotton rats do not occur regularly in areas with a mean annual temperature lower than 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 °C) and a growing season shorter than 180 days.
[26] In Trans-Pecos, Texas, hispid cotton rats occur at the warmer, low elevations in areas of moderate to dense grassy cover.
distichum) domes, small mammals including hispid cotton rat move to peripheral areas that are drier.
Returns were relatively high from displacements of up to 990 feet (300 m), suggesting that hispid cotton rats are familiar with the area within that distance.
[34] On the Coastal Plain, hispid cotton rats occupy the periphery of central ponds and more distant ecotonal areas of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) swamps.
[28] Hispid cotton rats are abundant in fallow rice fields in Texas, primarily near heavily overgrown canal banks and levees.
[37] In Florida, sand pine (P. clausa) scrub has been invaded by hispid cotton rats for short periods.
Reasons for the invasion were not clear, but were probably related to increased population densities in nearby optimum habitat (pine flatwoods with a dense ground cover of grasses and herbs).
[15] In the northernmost parts of hispid cotton rat range, severe weather is associated with rapid population declines and local extinctions.
Populations in the northern part of hispid cotton rat range experience dramatic declines in the nonbreeding season.
[45] When diverse and mobile predators are present, they are more important than food, social interaction, or weather in limiting hispid cotton rat density.
[8] Field observations of hispid cotton rat diet indicate that preferred foods are the stems, foliage, and seeds of crop and wild plants.
[16] Golley[47] reported that in the Southeast, perennial legumes and broomsedge comprised a large portion of the diet of hispid cotton rats.
In Texas hispid cotton rat diets always included the lower green stems of grasses (which are relatively low in nutritive value); raspberries (Rubus spp.
[8] In Oklahoma hispid cotton rats were a major prey item in the diet of Swainson's hawks (Buteo swainsoni).
[49] In central Missouri hispid cotton rats comprised 19% of prey items in red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) nests.
[50] Hispid cotton rat remains comprised a substantial portion of short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) pellets in Arkansas.
[51] Hispid cotton rats were the third most important prey item of red wolves (Canis rufus) in eastern Texas and Louisiana.
[52] In North Carolina, bobcats (Lynx rufus) consumed substantial numbers of hispid cotton rats.
[53] Hispid cotton rats were a minor item in the diet of Florida panthers (Felis concolor coryi).