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Characteristics Of The American Pika

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American Pika: http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/americanpika.htm - Nature Works
Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Logomorpha
Family: Ochotonidae
Genus: Ochotona
Species: Ochotona Princeps

Characteristics:
Has a small, round body
Peppery brown fur
Large round ears, with no visible tail
It’s between six - eight inches long, and weighs about 6 ounces
Range:
The American pika can be found in western North America from central British Columbia, Canada
Oregon
Washington
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
Colorado
Nevada
California
New Mexico.

Habitat:
The American pika lives in rocky mountain areas and boulder-covered hillsides
Lives at elevations of between 8,000-13,000 feet
Stays between the timberline and down into subalpine forest
It makes its home in rock piles and slides
Although pikas live in groups, they are territorial and will guard and defend their own area from other pikas.

Diet:
The American pika is a plant eater.
Eats a variety of green plants like.... grasses Sedges thistles fireweed.
- It will eat some food on the spot and it will carry some food away and store in a pile or "haystack."

A pika haystack can contain as much as a bushel of plant matter. The pika will often move the pile to protect it from rain or to find a better drying spot. After the vegetation dries, the pika will move it to its den deep in the rocks.
The pika is active all year
It will eat food it has stored in the winter.
If its supply runs low, it will

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