Pika

Pika colonies occupy talus slopes where jagged rocks form maze-like tunnels. Each pika weighs only about 150 grams, with rounded ears, short limbs, and no visible tail. Their thick fur and ability to regulate body temperature keep them warm even when snow and wind batter high peaks. Because pikas are lagomorphs, not rodents, they share ancestry with rabbits and hares, including ever-growing incisors and double pairs of upper teeth.

Summer is a frantic season for pikas. Individuals scour alpine meadows, snipping flowers, sedges, and cushion plants with razor-sharp incisors. They carry the cuttings in their mouths back to sunlit rocks, where they spread the vegetation to dry like hay. These “haypiles” can reach the size of a sleeping bag and serve as winter food stores when snow covers the landscape. Pikas do not hibernate; instead they remain active under the snow, feeding from carefully constructed caches that they defend vigorously.

Communication happens through whistles, chirps, and scent marks rubbed on rocks. Short alarm calls warn family members when hawks, weasels, or foxes pass overhead. Longer songs mark territory boundaries, telling neighbors to keep their distance. Pikas tend to live in small, dispersed family units, and both males and females gather hay. The animals rely on crevices between rocks to stay cool in summer and to hide from predators. Because they cannot tolerate long periods of heat, they become inactive during warm afternoons and resume cutting plants when temperatures drop.

Breeding occurs shortly after snowmelt. Females may have two litters per year, each with three or four young. Babies are born in well-insulated nests beneath boulders and venture outside after three weeks, following adults to learn foraging routes. Juveniles usually establish territories nearby but may disperse downslope if competition is intense. Pikas have short lifespans—often less than seven years—yet their rapid reproduction keeps colonies thriving when habitat remains stable.

Climate change poses the greatest threat to pikas. Warming temperatures reduce the cool refuges they need, forcing them to move to higher elevations where habitat may run out. Reduced snowpack means less insulation in winter, exposing them to freezing temperatures. Scientists monitor pika populations by hiking transects, recording vocalizations, and using remote temperature loggers hidden in talus fields. Students can model haypile construction with drying herbs, analyze slope maps to understand talus formation, or build citizen-science projects that log pika sightings and environmental conditions. Protecting intact mountain corridors, limiting disturbance from recreation, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions all contribute to pika survival.