page_title: Key Largo cotton mouse
section_title: Distribution
hierarchical_section_title: Key Largo cotton mouse / Distribution
caption_attribution_description: English: Key Largo Cotton Mouse Distribution Map
context_page_description: The Key Largo cotton mouse is a subspecies of the cotton mouse and is found on Key Largo in the upper Florida Keys. It is a slightly larger mouse with a more reddish color than other mouse species from peninsular
  Florida. Key Largo cotton mice can breed throughout the year and have an average life expectancy of 5 months. While the cotton mouse is one of the most common small mammals in South Florida, the Key Largo cotton mouse subspecies is endemic to Key Largo, and currently restricted to the northernmost part, due to habitat destruction.
  The Key Largo cotton mouse is currently on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered species, due to urbanization of Key Largo. This cotton mouse subspecies can reach a body length of seven inches with a tail length of 3.0 in. Key Largo cotton mice have a dark hazel back with reddish-brown sides, a white belly, white feet, and a tail that is brown on top and white on the bottom. States Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered species]], due to urbanization of Key Largo.
context_section_description: Both the Key Largo cotton mouse and the Key Largo woodrat are endemic to Key Largo, Florida. Due to habitat destruction from development and fires, the Key Largo cotton mouse has been pushed to the northernmost portion of Key Largo, North Key Largo. Although historically the Key Largo cotton mouse was once found as far south as Plantation Key, near Tavernier, they are now only found in a confined area north of the U.S. 1-C.R. 905 intersection. This range shift can be attributed to the increased urbanization of Key Largo which has decimated the forests of tropical hardwood hammocks, thus reducing the availability of food, shelter and habitat for the cotton mouse. Surveys indicate that the Key Largo cotton mouse has lost more than 50 percent of its habitat due to this urbanization, and much of the remaining habitat has been degraded or fragmented. This has led to isolation of populations, making proper reproduction and dispersal more difficult.
  This fragmentation and range limitation makes the Key Largo cotton mouse more vulnerable to fires and hurricanes. These natural catastrophes pose a threat to both existing populations as well as their limited hammock habitat. 
  Additionally, habitat degradation poses a large threat to this species as trash dumping (a common side effect of urbanization) leads to increased populations of black rats (Rattus rattus) and predation by domesticated animals. Rodent control techniques used to combat these black rats also kill cotton mice. Black rats compete with cotton mice and have previously led to the extinction of other cotton mouse subspecies.
caption: Key Largo cotton mouse distribution map
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