THE PIKA FAMILY 



(Ochotonidce) 



IKAS occupy a family to themselves. They are rodents with forms somewhat 

 between the Guinea-pigs and Rabbits, and at first glance might be mistaken 

 for small brownish Rabbits. Unlike them, however, they are sluggish and 

 do not run fast. They have also been found to have such highly specialized 

 traits as to make it easier to classify them by giving them a separate family. 

 These rodents, like the Hares, occupy a sub-order known as Duplicidentata, so 

 called because of the presence of two pairs of incisor teeth in the upper jaw; 

 one pair being smaller and set immediately behind the other. 



The Pikas are found only in the higher mountains of northwestern North 

 America. Their only relatives are to be found in Asia. Their closest relations 

 in North America are with the Hares, to which they bear a superficial resem- 

 blance. They frequent mountainous regions of the west and northwest, especially along 

 the timber line. 



PIKA 



Ochotona princeps (Richardson) 



Other Names. — Cony, Little Chief Hare. Rock 

 Rabbit. Tailless Hare. Whistling Hare. 



General Description. — A small rodent lacking a tail 

 and having somewhat the appearance of a diminutive 

 rabbit. Head rather large and broad with conspicuous 

 whiskers and large broad ears; body thick-set; no 

 visible external tail ; legs short ; soles hairy ; pelage 

 thick, long, lax, and soft to the touch ; toes, five on 

 fore feet, four on hind feet ; general color, brownish- 

 gray or yellow. 



Dental Formula. — Incisors, 



- - ; Lanmes, — ; Pre- 



molars, 

 Pelage. — Adults 



Molars, j^j=26. 



Sexes identical. Seasonal varia- 

 tion occurring but not especially conspicuous. Head 

 and shoulders yellowish-brown, rest of upper parts 

 grayish-black ; sides yellowish-brown ; underparts 

 smoky-gray, tinged on chest and parts of belly with 

 brown; ears bordered with white; feet white; soles 

 dusky-brown. Young: Grayer than adults. 



Measurements. — Length, 7.5 inches ; no external tail. 



Range. — Rocky Mountains in British Columbia 

 northward to south branch of Mackenzie River. 



Food. — A variety of green plants, leaves of shrubs 

 and grasses. 



Remarks. — Twelve species of this peculiar rodent 

 are recognized, the main distinctions being along the 

 line of cranial and color variations. 



Related Species 



Pika, or Cony. — Ochotona princeps (Richardson). 

 Typical animal as described above. Rocky Mountains 

 in British Columbia, northward to Alackenzie River. 



Sierra Nevada Pika, or Slate-colored Pika. — 

 Ochotona schisticcps (Merriam). Coloration from nose 

 to nape slate-gray, rest of upper parts suffused with 

 fulvous. Higher parts of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, 

 California. 



Collared Pika. — Ochotona coUaris (Nelson). Ears 

 thickly haired, iron-gray color on back and sides of 

 neck ; chin and throat white. Mountains from head 

 of Tanana River to head of Bristol Bay, Alaska. 



Colorado Pika. — Ochotona sa.ratilis Bangs. Pale 

 yellowish-brown mixed with black on head and back. 

 Colorado. 



Little Pika. — Ochotona minima (Lord). Size small, 

 color dark. Cascade Mountains, British Columbia. 



Tawny Pika. — Ochotona cuppcs Bangs. Colors 

 dark, with much tawny on head, neck and underparts. 

 Gold Range, British Columbia. 



" The Conies are but a feeble folk, yet make 

 they their houses in the rocks." If the writer 

 of this passage in the Book of Proverbs had had 

 in mind the Pikas, or Conies, of our western 

 mountains, he could not have described them 

 more accurately ; for away up on the sides of 



high mountains, in the neighborhood of 

 " slides," or masses of debris at tlie base of 

 some cliff, these little animals have their homes. 

 The lowest altitude at which a colony of them 

 was fotmd by Dr. C. H. Merriam, in Idaho, was 

 8600 feet. 



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