with surface cover were more likely to support hispid cotton rats. Pole-sized timber is dense, little light reaches the ground, and surface cover is minimal. In Louisiana and Mississippi, hispid cotton rats were more numerous in cut than in uncut bottomland hardwoods. They were also more numerous in cottonwood ("Populus" spp.) plantations than in uncut cottonwood stands. In northern Georgia intensive site preparation following clearcutting of pine-hardwood mixtures increases forage production and increased numbers of small mammals (presumably including hispid cotton rats).