Hispid Cotton Rat

About the Hispid Cotton Rat

The Hispid Cotton Rat is one of the most important animals in Texas that almost nobody ever sees clearly. Cloaked in grizzled brown fur, it tunnels neat runways through dense grass and rarely shows itself in the open for more than a second or two.

Cotton rats are a cornerstone of the food chain: hawks, owls, snakes, coyotes, and bobcats all depend heavily on them. When cotton rat numbers boom, raptor numbers often follow.

This unusually cooperative individual was photographed at the Lawrence E. Wood Picnic Area in the Davis Mountains, darting between grass clumps in the winter sun.