Hispid Cotton Rat

Description:

With all the times I have spotted hawks and kestrels in this area, it's a little surprising that only once did I catch a glimpse of what the hawks might be eating. My daughter and I startled this rat while picking blackberries. I suspect there are a lot more of these hidden in the grass and weeds and if my eyes were as sharp as a raptors' we would see them, too.

Habitat:

In the United States, the hispid cotton rat ranges from southern Virginia and North Carolina 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 South America.[

Notes:

Spotted near utility pole #44 at an uncultivated area next to a mining operation in Kennesaw, GA