Top 10 Incredible Pika Facts
1 : The American pika, though frequently mistaken for a mouse, is actually the tiniest member of the rabbit family. You’ll see why if you pay great attention to their massive rear feet, large round ears, and front teeth.
2 : The American pika, though frequently mistaken for a mouse, is actually the tiniest member of the rabbit family. You’ll see why if you pay great attention to their massive rear feet, large round ears, and front teeth.
3 : American pikas are particularly heat-sensitive and could perish if exposed to 77 degrees or higher for more than 30 minutes. Pikas are a good indicator species for climate change because of this.
4 : It gets the moniker “whistling hare” because of the sharp whistle, it emits like a smoke signal when there is danger.
5 : Despite sticking together, the National Wildlife Federation claims that they tend to lead lonely lives and are fiercely protective of their own rock caves and the region around them.
6 : The National Park Service states that they sun-cure the plants they gather on rocks, then store their stacks under rocks and occasionally move them to avoid getting wet.
7 : They call out, sing, and shout to defend their territory. The National Wildlife Federation claims that the noise they create is more akin to a lamb bleating than a high-pitched squeaky sound.
8 : They spend the entire summer gathering plants, grasses, leaves, and flowers, drying them in “hay piles” behind big boulders, and then feeding on these food caches during the challenging winter in their high-elevation environment.
9 : They are now only occasionally spotted below 8,200 feet in the more southern territory and dwell in the highest regions of New Mexico, California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Western Canada.
10 : The pika tail, however, surpasses both the hare’s shortcut and its rabbit relative’s distinctive cotton ball-like tuft in length compared to its body size.