Stranger Alert! Contact with the pika

A few weeks ago I was scouting some single track and walking up a trail that I had found.  Upon reaching a rocky out-crop there was a shrieking noise which didn’t sound quite like a bird.  Suddenly, a small furry  animal went scurrying through the rocks and disappeared.  It was my first sighting of a Japanese pika. 

The shrieking was a warning cry to its fellow pika that there was a stranger lurking.  The pika is related to the rabbit but is quite a bit smaller, a hamster like animal.  They are sometimes referred to as as a ‘whistling hare’ due to the high pitched warning cries before they disappear in to their burrows. In Japanese they are called ‘naki-usagi,’ or ‘crying hare’ in English.  It is believed that their numbers are in decline  due to global warming as they are very sensitive to climate rises.  Scientists have reported that pikas can die if the outside temperature reaches 23 degrees celsius, (Wikipedia).

The cool temperatures and rocky outcrops which are abundant in the volcanic mountains of Daisetsuzan National Park make for a perfect habitat for the pika. 

Perhaps of interest; Pikas consume their food twice to extract as much nutrition as they can from their food; they initially produce green feces which they will then eat to  produce a solid pellet.