Cotton mouse

Cotton mice are large, strong-climbing mice of southern forests. They forage at night on the ground and in trees and shrubs for seeds, fruit and insects, and nest in hollow logs, stumps and tree cavities, sometimes well above the ground.

In the South, unlike many northern mice, they breed mostly in the cooler months, with less breeding in the heat of summer.

Cotton mice are among the most common small mammals in southern bottomland forests and swamps, and a major food for owls, snakes, foxes, bobcats and weasels.

One subspecies, the Key Largo cotton mouse of Florida, is endangered, a reminder that even common animals can have fragile local forms.

Breeding — mainly autumn to spring in the South
Gestation — about 23 days
Litter — usually two to five young
Weaning — at about three weeks old
Lifespan — usually less than a year in the wild

• Cotton mice may enter cabins and sheds near woods; closing gaps keeps them out.
• Like other wild rodents, they can carry diseases; avoid handling them and clean up droppings carefully.
• Poisons harm the predators that eat mice.

• A mouse in the woods is a house mouse gone wild. Cotton mice are native forest animals.
• Mice cannot climb well. Cotton mice nest and feed in trees.

• White-footed mouse
• Oldfield mouse
• Golden mouse