TYPICAL HABITAT:
     The marsh rice rat is mainly found in marshes and swamps, or along 
their edges.
They occur in fresh, brackish, and salt marshes, but will travel into 

upland grasslands near water habitats, such as streams.  The rats make 

their nests in piles of debris or grass above the high-water level.  When 
the rats are having or raising their young, the nests seem to be more obvious. 

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DISTRIBUTION:
     The rice rats are very abundant in estuarine marshes along the Atlantic 
coast.
They are also found in almost all of the southeastern states, but are more

dominant in wet and intertidal grasslands.