An American PikaAn American Pika pauses on a rockslide in Alaska. (Photo David A. Murray)

The road is dangerously narrow, and even a single vehicle must travel cautiously. However, amazingly, large tour buses travel along this treacherous stretch of scenic beauty, a beautiful and breathtaking stretch of road, called Polychrome Pass in Alaska's Denali National Park, and the home of the American Pika. Pika particulars

Also referred to as a "cony" or "rock rabbit," the American Pika is a cute little critter of only about six or seven inches in length and weighs-in at a plump three or four ounces. The long, thick, fur is a grayish-brown in color and similar in texture to that of a rabbit. The pika's ears are large and rounded, especially when you consider the overall size of its body. The habitat for this little critter is rockslides or steep boulder-covered mountainsides in elevations of about 10,000 feet. The pika travels in tunnels throughout these rockslides and creates a deep den within an open space among the rocks. The den is where this fluffy non-hibernating mammal spends the cold snowy winters. The den is also where it raises two to six newborns each summer.

The call of the pika is that of a loud and distinct high-pitched bleat. This call warns other pikas when intruders enter their territory. Pikas are very community oriented, and generally live in small social groups. There is a story about a person who witnessed a weasel chasing a pika over the rocks for what was to be the weasel's dinner. As the pika began to tire from the chase, another pika emerged and ran between the weasel and the exhausted pika. The weasel darted for the new pika, and began chasing it, but soon tired and gave up on the idea of a pika for dinner. This type of defensive community behavior is not only fascinating, but also very effective. Hay farming

Hay farming is alive and well in the community of the pika. The pika feeds on many different types of grasses and green plants. These include sedge, fireweed, sweetgrass, thistle, and willows, just to name a few. A unique behavior of the pika is its method of storing this food to survive the long winter. In late summer, the pika begins to gather large amounts of grass and green plants and brings them to the vicinity of its den. It then spreads the greens on a large flat boulder in the sun to dry and cure. In the event of rain, the pika gathers all the drying greens, and brings them into the rock tunnels until the sun reappears. Then, once again, spreads them out in the sun to finish drying. Once the "hay" is dried and cured, the pika gathers it up and stacks it inside its den. These haystacks can contain as much as a bushel of winter food. Very often, in adjacent rock crevices, the pika creates additional haystacks as winter reserves. Let the pika games begin The pikas in Polychrome Pass are extremely difficult to photograph during the day. As mentioned, the bus traffic along this scenic roadway makes it impossible to safely stop and take pictures. The only safe way to photograph a pika along Polychrome Pass is to get there early in the morning before the bus tours begin. When in Denali, I usually stay at the Teklanika campground, which is about an hour drive to Polychrome Pass. That's of course, if you don't get distracted along the way by wolves, grizzlies, or who knows what. Nevertheless, I had been to the park on many occasions and wasn't able to catch-up with the American Pika, so this little critter was on my target list to photograph.

After many early morning trips, I spotted my first pika. I pulled the truck over and jumped out, but the pika was gone. I set up the tripod and camera, and waited. Then the pika-boo game began; first, it's here, then it's over there! The little pika would peek out from between some rocks and then disappear, and pop out of another opening in the rocks a few feet away.

We played the pika-boo game for almost two hours. However, the nice thing about this game is that we both came out winners. The pika had some fun with the wildlife photographer and the photographer got some nice images of the American Pika!

Good shooting!

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