American Pika

Ochotona princeps

Description: Body 15-22cm

American Pika are usually colored brown to gray with a buff underside as opposed to white undersides of otochono collaris. They have egg shaped bodies, no noticable tail, and front and rear legs of approximately the same length. They move in a scampering manner rather than the hopping motion of most rodents. Pika have two distinct calls, a short warning squeak and a song used during the mating seasons. Females have two litters of 2-4 young twice a year, usually having more in the first. Young Pika will nurse for approximately 18 days and reach maturity in 3 months.

I observed Pika along many hikes and climb approaches, always in their preferred habitat of talus and scree in locations ranging from the Gros Ventre slide debris to high alpine talus fields. Pika have developed an interesting adaptation in their "haying" drying and storing grasses and forbs to supplement their winter diet of cusion plants and lichen that survive beneath the snow pack. Pika do not hibernate and are well adapted to cold climates. They have also developed a large flap of skin that is used to close the ear opening, an adaptation thought to protect from severe weather.