If you are on Pika's Peak one morning for a walk you might hear a high
pitch whistle. you wonder, what could it be? You look around. The whistle
is coming from a little rock. Pikas live in mountain areas in western North America including Colorado. The pika has gray fur and a rounded body that looks like a rock. The pika breeds in the spring. They often have two litters with two to four babies in each. Only one of those litters will survive the winter. The babies are born blind and hairless, but will find their territory by their first winter. When the pika is not storing food it sits on a rock to look for predators like coyotes, weasels, martens, and hawks. |
The pika is active all year. Instead of hibernating in winter,
it moves beneath rocks and snow. When an animal or person gets near, pikas
make a very high pitched squeak. They eat vegetation like grains, grass,
and hay. They're scientific name is Ochotona Priceps. They're related
to the rabbit and hare. Pikas are not very big. They're only eight inches
long and weigh seven ounces. I got my information by ONE DAY ON PIKAS PEAK by Ron Hirschi. |
If you ever go rock climbing, or go on a camping trip , or just go to the
mountains in Colorado and you see a rock, it may be a pika. Maybe it looks
like a rodent or a little like a mouse. It probably is a pika.  The mother pika chirps at you, "Peep! Peep!" They do that
because they call out a warning to other pikas to look out for danger. Out
comes the mother weasel sneaking up on the pika. She strikes at the pika.
They roll off the boulder. Then it's too late. The pika escapes home. A
red-tailed hawk flies overhead. The pika does not move. The hawk goes right
past it like nothing was there. Mother pika returns to the colony in the
rock pile. Mother pika uses her whiskers to feel around for bugs in the
night. They look for food every summer to store up for the winter . |
I got my information from ONE DAY ON PIKAS PEAK by Ron Hirschi. |
If you see a rabbit like animal up in the western Rocky Mountains, it may be a pika. Does it gather piles of plants? Can you hear a sharp, piercing whistle? If so, you found the pika. The pika's relative is the rabbit. They make their homes in the rocks high in the mountains. The color of the pika is the same color as the rocks. The pika gathers grass and hay during the day and stores it for the winter. It grows to 7 or 8 in. long. The pika is active all year long. During the winter they move beneath the rocks in tunnels. The pika breeds all spring. It can have 2-4 young at a time. When the pika is born it has no hair and it's blind. Pika tracks are found in late lying snow. The pika's predators are coyotes, weasels, martens and hawks. I got my information from ONE DAY ON PIKA'S PEAK by Ron Hirschi and MOUNTAIN WILDLIFE by Marj Dunmire. |
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©1998 Coal Creek Elementary School. All rights reserved.
Created: May 1998 Updated: May 1999
Web Page Address: http://schools.bvsd.org/coalcreek/wildlife/pika.html
You go to it and try to pick it up.
But right when you're about to touch it, it scurries off. My friend, if
that does happen to you, you might have just heard and seen a pika.
