Pikas make hay a different way

On top of a ridge in the Selkirks, I noticed a quick movement among the rocks. At first I thought it was a golden-mantled ground squirrel, but once it reappeared I knew it wasn’t. Much to my delight, it was an American pika—one of my favorite animals!

These small creatures live among the rocks of talus slopes at high elevations. You’ll most likely hear them before you see them with their high-pitched squeak. Only six to eight inches long, pikas can easily maneuver among gaps in rock piles and camouflage really well amongst the rocks.

This particular pika was collecting small bits of huckleberry brush and scurrying back in between two rocks. It would come out again, collect some more and scurry back. This pika was “haying”.

Pikas are known for their highly-developed haymaking behavior. Since they do not hibernate, they store food for the long winter.

During summer the pika collects small pieces of grass, leaves and flowers and carries them to a haystack, making as many as 100 trips a day. Pikas tend to forage for “hay” farther from the talus slopes, leaving the plants closer to their nest for winter.

Pikas are selective on the plants they harvest. They harvest certain plants during certain times of summer, revealing they have some understanding of when the plant provides peak nutritional benefits.

They also harvest plants that would be poisonous if eaten immediately, like Alpine avens. When stored for a few months, the toxins break down and help preserve the plant.

The haystacks are piles of vegetation tucked under a rock or log or left in the open. Biologists once thought pikas dried the vegetation in the sun and then carried the dried vegetation to haystacks. Instead, pikas stack the fresh vegetation and leave it until winter. These piles can be up to three feet wide!

Once pikas begin haymaking they become extremely territorial to protect their haystacks. Individual pikas have territories up to one-half acre, sometimes with the nearest neighbor being 46 to 115 feet away.

Pikas don’t rely solely on the haystacks during winter. They create a network of tunnels beneath the snow that connects their nest site to haystacks, latrine sites and nearby meadows. In the meadows they forage beneath the snow on cushion plants and lichens.

When the snow is deep, pikas can travel on top and eat whitebark pine branches normally six to ten feet off the ground.

As mating season begins in the spring, the pikas are less territorial. During May, males and females coo to each other from neighboring territories to attract a mate.

Born blind and nearly hairless, young pikas are ready to leave their mother after four weeks. Juvenile pikas remain close to their birth site but establish their own territory. Even though pikas are territorial in regards to their food, they do work together when it comes to predators.

Pikas can spot predators quickly due to their sharp hearing, keen depth perception and wide field of vision. Predators include eagles, hawks, coyotes, lynx and bobcats. Upon spotting a predator, a pika sounds a high-pitched alarm which sends all nearby pikas diving for cover.

However, there are some predators that don’t instigate an alarm call: the long-tailed weasel, ermine and American marten. If a pika detects one of these predators, it stays silent not wanting to give away its position. Any noise may attract these small-sized predators who can easily pursue the pika among the rocks.

The squeak of a pika may give away its presence to us but trying to spot a pika the same color as boulders on a talus slope can require patience.

Fun Facts About Pikas

• Pikas are closely related to rabbits and hares.
• Their nickname is “Rock Rabbit”.
• They have hair on their feet, sharp curved claws and padded toes to give them traction while traversing rocks.
• Like snowshoe hares, pikas consume their own feces (coprophagy) to extract extra nutrients.
• Pikas don’t have a visible tail.
• Pikas have thick fur during the winter to keep extra warm and thinner fur in the summer.