Primary habitat for this species is within desert, associatated with shrubs or small trees, at the interface between sandy flats and rocky slopes.

It forages most often in the shelter of perennial plants and modifies its behavior in response to the risk of predation from owls. In the presence of owls, individuals make furtive, short trips into risky open areas between shrubs, especially when the moon is bright. It is solitary, nocturnal, lives in burrows, eats mostly seeds that it stores avidly against lean times, and does not need to drink water. It is unique among Sonoran desert pocket mice in its ability to consume seeds of the dominant shrub jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), which contain chemical compounds toxic to most mammals. It also is unusually slow in harvesting seeds from sand, especially in comparison with kangaroo mice. Breeding is controlled by rainfall. In the Sonoran desert there are often two reproductive periods, one in spring following winter rains and another in early autumn following summer monsoons (Wilson and Ruff 1999).

This species is known from south Arizona, southwestern New Mexico (USA), south to north Sinaloa (Mexico) (Patton 2005).

There are no known conservation measures specific to this species.