HUNTING WITH A CAMERA. 

 III. 



THE LITTLE CHIEF HARE. 



W. E. CARLIN. 



To my mind this is the most interesting 

 of all the smaller animals we have photo- 

 graphed. Our experience with him is con- 

 fined to the Bitter Root mountain, where 

 he makes his home in the slide-rock, at 

 various altitudes. We found him at ele- 

 vations of 3,500 to 8,500 feet. 



The pika is a miniature hare, but there 

 is something quite ratlike in his general 

 appearance, especially in his eyes. Here 



slide rock home and reappearing at short 

 intervals during the day, until the sun gets 

 low. Then they eat supper and sun them- 

 selves as before. 



As fall approaches they are very busy, 

 all day long, laying up their winter's sup- 

 ply of hay. 



Frequently one of the little fellows will 

 pop out and, looking quickly about to see 

 if the coast is clear, will hurry off to gather 



LITTLE CHIEF HARE, OR ROCKY MOUNTAIN PIKA. 



are dimensions of a full grown male speci- 

 men we measured: 



Total length 6^2 inches. 



Length of body 5 inches. 



Length of tail 0.4 inch. 



Height, at shoulder 2^4 inches. 



Girth, back of shoulder . . . .4^ inches. 



They are, as a rule, jerky and erratic in 

 their movements, and dodge in and out 

 among the rocks with incredible swiftness. 

 Their cry is unique, resembling the sharp 

 note of a child's toy trumpet. The pika 

 feeds on grass, weeds and berries, being 

 especially fond of the leaves and fruit of the 

 wild raspberry bush. 



After their morning, meal they lie and 

 sun themselves on some rock, retiring as 

 the sun gets high into the shade of their 



some favorite grass. Then he will come 

 scampering back with a bunch nearly as 

 big as himself. 



When disturbed or surprised he nearly 

 always gives vent to his sharp cry, open- 

 ing his mouth wide as he utters it. His 

 worst enemy is the weasel, but he is also 

 the prey of hawks and martens. 



During winter, in the higher altitudes, 

 the little chief must live for some time un- 

 der the snows. In April, last, we went into 

 the mountains, on snowshoes, for a month, 

 and found their abodes covered with 6 to 10 

 feet of snow. In the mouths of the can- 

 yons, near the Bitter Root river, where 

 the snow little more than covered the slide 

 rock, I saw chief hares sitting on the snow, 

 at different times during the winter, but 

 higher up there was not a sign of one. 



Early in the season they are easier to 



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