Northward Dispersal of the Hispid Cotton Rat in Nebraska and Missouri

Abstract

summarized the northward movement of the hispid cotton rat, Signzodon hispidzls texidtz~~s, in Kansas.He showed that between 1933 and 1947 the cotton rat extended its distribution northward approximately 100 miles-from Greenwood and Allen counties north to Brown County, an average distance of seven miles per year.As of 1952, the northernmost record for the species was 5 mi.S Hiawatha, Brown County (obtained 29 November 1947), in northeastern Kansas.Trapping between 1945 and 1947 in Mitchell, Norton, and Thomas counties, in the central and western parts of northern Kansas, and in Richardson and Pawnee counties, in southeastern Nebraska, failed to yield additional specimens.Later, Anderson and Nelson (1958: 306) reported specimens from the following localities in north-central and northwestern Kansas: 1 mi.SW Norton, Norton County (obtained 26 August 1957); 2 mi.E Smith Center, Smith County (obtained 1 September 1957); and 1 mi.E, 1% mi.N Ok 'eto, Marshall County (obtained