Pikas: Engineers in the High Country

Street Smart Naturalist · Jun 18, 2026 · 7m

We saw our first pika of the season. I didn’t expect to do so. We were on a bouldery debris slope at about 4,700 feet in elevation—ideal pika habitat—but the rocks were rimmed in snow, which had fallen the previous night. And, it was neither warm nor sunny; I was warm only because I had been hiking uphill for the past two plus miles. Yet, there atop a boulder, perched in the mighty glory of full pikatude, was one of the handsome little lagomorphs.

The pika seemed to be watching us but made neither noise nor movement. Apparently, we were not of much interest. One aspect of pikas I like, in…