The high desert is the last place you'd look for an animal that loves the cold. Yet among the dark lava flows of Craters of the Moon, in Idaho, pikas scrape out a living — one of the park's most puzzling residents.
What a pika is
| Relatives | about the size and shape of a guinea pig, but not a rodent — its closest relatives are rabbits and hares |
| Species | North America has two; the American pika (Ochotona princeps) is the only one in the continental United States |
| Size | adults weigh about 4.8 ounces (170 g); males are slightly bigger |
| Look | short, rounded ears, front and back legs of equal length, and no visible tail |
| Coat | dense fur that keeps it warm all year — which is why pikas cannot stand heat: a few hours above 75°F (24°C) can kill one |
| Winter | no hibernation; pikas stay active even under snow |
Through the growing season, pikas gather plants and leave them to dry in "haypiles", then carry the hay into their dens for winter. The other sign they are around is their voice. Pikas are surprisingly noisy: a high-pitched "eep!", then a slightly louder "eep!" a few seconds later, like a squeaky toy — calls they use to keep in touch and to warn of predators.
Where they live
Pikas usually live somewhere cold: high talus slopes — slopes of fallen rock — with few plants, denning under and between the rocks out of the weather.
At Craters of the Moon they are seen most around the Lava Flow Campground, the Spatter Cones and the Caves Area — all places where chunky, broken lava, not yet overgrown, is full of nooks and crannies. Even where they are known to live, they are shy and rarely seen.
Park biologists surveying for pikas. NPS Photo
Living on the Moon
As far as biologists can tell, the park's pikas are cut off: they cannot reach any other suitable habitat outside the lava flows. And they look and behave differently from other American pikas.
| The problem | How they cope |
|---|---|
| Summer air is often above 80°F (27°C), and the dark lava can top 150°F (66°C) | pikas are normally active by day, but here they shift to mornings and evenings; on the hottest days they may not come above ground at all |
| A shorter working day | they still gather as much winter food as pikas at higher elevations |
| Black rock | they tend to be darker, most likely to blend in |
Studies are under way to find out whether they are genetically distinct from other populations.
Keeping count
The National Park Service monitors how many pikas there are and where, by a non-invasive method: finding and collecting their scat. Besides showing where pikas live, the droppings may reveal their genetics, diet and reproduction.
Sources
Based on "Pikas at Craters of the Moon," National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The Park Service cites Beever EA, "Persistence of pikas in two low-elevation national monuments in the western United States," Park Science 21(2), 2002; Camp MJ, Shipley LA, Varner J, Waterhouse BD, "Activity patterns and foraging behavior of American pikas (Ochotona princeps) differ between Craters of the Moon and alpine talus in Idaho," Western North American Naturalist 80(1), 2020; and Smith AT, "The Distribution and Dispersal of Pikas: Influences of Behavior and Climate," Ecology 55(6), 1974. The original's recording of pika calls, by Jeff Rice of the Western Soundscape Archive, is not reproduced.
In these publicationsCraters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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