Food Habits
Hispid cotton rats are omnivorous, but the major portion of their diet consists of green vegetation. They occasionally consume insects and other small animals. Field observations of hispid cotton rat diet indicate that preferred foods are the stems, foliage, and seeds of crop and wild plants. Golley reported that in the Southeast, perennial legumes and broomsedge comprised a large portion of the diet of hispid cotton rats. They also consumed roots and tubers. In Texas hispid cotton rat diets always included the lower green stems of grasses (which are relatively low in nutritive value); raspberries (Rubus spp.), privet (Ligustrum spp.) fruits, and leaves of fogfruits (Phyla spp.) were consumed as available.
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