American Pika

This little fur ball is the American Pika or Ochotona princeps, an endangered mammal living in the high mountains of North America.... more

by Lena Photo Art

Title

American Pika

Artist

Lena Photo Art

Medium

Photograph - Fine Art Prints, Metallic Prints, Canvas Prints, Greeting Cards, Acrylic Prints

Description

This little fur ball is the American Pika or Ochotona princeps, an endangered mammal living in the high mountains of North America.

American pikas are small, rodent-like mammals. Although they look like a squirrel or guinea pig, they're actually more closely related to rabbits and hares. Pikas have short, stout bodies with big, round ears. They do not have a visible tail.

Pikas have brown and black fur. The fur is colored to camouflage with rocks. Pika fur is thick to keep them warm in the winter. During the summer, they put on a much lighter coat of fur; however, the fur is still thick enough that a pika might overheat if exposed to very high heat for long periods of time. Pikas are in real danger because of the global warming and they could be the first species to be extinct because of the global warming. They live usually in cool and moist ecosystems, high in the mountains.
This one was spotted in the Mount Baker area, Washington State, US in the Summer of 2014.

Uploaded

September 3rd, 2014