But they can live at lower elevations where the local climate is cool enough in summer and warm enough in winter. Pikas are most commonly found in high-alpine areas up to 14,000 feet above sea level. “We have this army of people going out and observing, and they see amazing things that I had never seen before.” Indicators of climate change Ray has ventured into one of her pika field sites in Montana, north of Yellowstone National Park, every summer for 33 years. From July to September, she spends up to 20 days a month studying pikas at remote field sites in the Colorado and Montana Rockies. Ray has been the scientific advisor for the Colorado Pika Project, previously known as the Front Range Pika Project, since it began in 2010. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Įxtra eyes and ears on the ground in many different places at different times provides invaluable information about pikas, their lifestyle, and their behavior, says Chris Ray, a population biologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Afterward, the pika patrollers go into the field at least once each summer on anything from easy or moderate hikes to 17-mile roundtrip excursions in the backcountry.
MOUNTAIN PIKA FULL
They go through a full day of training to learn complex surveying methods.
This season, more than 400 of these volunteers are venturing out and up to 72 sites high in the Colorado Rockies. The Colorado Pika Project relies on a growing contingent of volunteers known as the “ Pika Patrol,” who help survey and collect data about pikas throughout the summer. “So we are really looking to fill that gap for the southern Rockies, for Colorado,” Wells says. In 2010, pikas were considered for federal endangered species protection, but the Fish and Wildlife Service rejected the petition-in part because researchers didn’t have enough data about them across their full range. Because pikas are so physiologically fine-tuned to their way of life and talus habitats, they’re especially vulnerable to the effects of a warming climate, making them an indicator for the advancement of climate change. The project’s mission is to document and collect key information about pikas and their habitat, and to use that information to better understand how climate change could be threatening the survival of certain pika populations. “They look like little dumplings, but they’re actually really industrious, hard-working animals,” says Alex Wells, the community science coordinator at the Denver Zoo and co-director of the Colorado Pika Project, a partnership between the zoo and Rocky Mountain Wild, a Denver-based nonprofit. If they don’t see them, they likely hear their high-pitched calls. Hikers above the tree line often see the diminutive creatures busily dashing around slopes of rocky debris called taluses. But the charismatic rabbit-relative is integral to the high-alpine landscapes of the American West. While not considered an endangered species, Ochotona princeps is thought to be at high risk of extinction because of increasing temperatures occurring due to climate change. Their thick fur can cause them to overheat if subjected to high temperatures over long periods of time and they can perish in several hours if subjected to moderate temperatures around 78 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius). Pikas live so high on the mountain that there is no way for them to retreat to cooler temperatures at higher elevations.A critter the size and shape of a furry russet potato, with Mickey Mouse ears, and no tail, the American pika might not be your standard “iconic” species. Their thick coat is brown-black and helps them to camouflage amongst the rocks and keeps them warm in the winter. Mature pikas reach a size of about seven to eight inches (18 to 20 centimeters) in length.
Pikas are one of the few mammals that can survive their entire lives in alpine terrain at elevations above the tree line. Although pikas resemble a rodent-like species, they are not considered rodents and are more closely related to rabbits. Identify a pika by its short body, large round ears, and lack of tail. They lay their bounty out in the sun to dry out so it will not mold and be edible over winter. Because pikas do not hibernate, they collect and save their food during the summer to prepare them for limited resources in the winter. Typically found above the tree line, they live on rock faces and cliffs near the meadows. Pikas live in colonies and are territorial of their personal den. As herbivores, they eat grasses, tall wildflowers, and other vegetation that grows in high elevation climates.
The American pika lives in high elevation, cool climate areas west of the Rocky Mountains including places like Mount Rainer National Park.
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