Hispid Cotton Rat

The hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) is a rat long thought to occur in parts of South America, Central America, and southern North America. However, recent taxonomic revisions, based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data, have split this widely distributed species into three separate species (S. hispidus, S. toltecus, and S. hirsutus). The distribution of S. hispidus ranges from Arizona in the west to Virginia to the east and from the Platte River in Nebraska in the north to, likely, the Rio Grande in the south, where it meets the northern edge of the distribution of S. toltecus (formerly S. h. toltecus).

From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Is it venomous or poisonous?

We have no record of Hispid Cotton Rat being toxic, poisonous or venomous. That is not proof that it is safe. Never eat, touch or handle a wild plant, mushroom or animal on the strength of an identification; ask someone qualified.

Easily confused with

• Sigmodon mascotensis
• Sigmodon leucotis
• Sigmodon arizonae
• Sigmodon ochrognathus
• Otomys irroratus

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Cricetidae

Genus

Sigmodon

Species

Sigmodon hispidus

More species