Ochotona princeps

So pleased to present to you the American Pika, a species of lagomorph (rabbit, that is!) that lives on high elevation talus slopes in the mountains of the western U.S. I've seen these little guys just a handful of times whilst living and hiking in the Sierra Nevada; they are always absolutely thrilling to behold. They are 6-8 inches long with rounded ears and no exterior tail. They forage for grasses all day long, eating some but mostly collecting them in piles and allowing them to dry in the sun. This is a process called "haying" and is done in order to build a stockpile of food for their long winters. Pikas are extremely sensitive to warm temperatures--they are known to die after just a few hours' exposure to 77+ degrees--and so generally exist only above 8,000 feet. Because of their difficulties with warmer weather, declines in their population make the species an excellent (albeit tremendously tragic) indicator of global warming trends. I spotted this one on Tioga Pass when I stopped to take more pictures of the waning Blazing Stars. Rarely does one find them without first hearing their scratchy "EE-EE" call emanating from the rocks.