Although they may look like it, pikas are not rodents. They are members of the lagomorpha order which includes rabbits and hares. They live high in rocky alpine regions of North America and are helpful to scientific study of climate change because of their extreme sensitivity to temperature. In fact, they can not tolerate highs in the mid 70s for more than six hours or they will die. Due to this, they are known as an indicator species, and studying their movements tells us much about the changing conditions of where they live. In recent years they’ve been migrating to higher and higher altitudes seeking colder weather. For this reason, I think of them as an ominous metaphor for our own species — if they keep climbing higher in search of a healthy place to exist, they’ll eventually run out of room. This little guy — sounding an alarm call — was photographed in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 400, f/8 at 1/250th of a second
An “indicator species”…….had not head that term before. Thanks, Sean, for keeping me up to date . As much as I love going to the beach here in January, I deplore what is happening to our planet due to the non-believers and nay sayers on climate change. Say what you will about Al Gore, he certainly knew what he was talking about!
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Although they may look like it, pikas are not rodents. They are members of the lagomorpha order which includes rabbits and hares. They live high in rocky alpine regions of North America and are helpful to scientific study of climate change because of their extreme sensitivity to temperature. In fact, they can not tolerate highs in the mid 70s for more than six hours or they will die. Due to this, they are known as an indicator species, and studying their movements tells us much about the changing conditions of where they live. In recent years they’ve been migrating to higher and higher altitudes seeking colder weather. For this reason, I think of them as an ominous metaphor for our own species — if they keep climbing higher in search of a healthy place to exist, they’ll eventually run out of room. This little guy — sounding an alarm call — was photographed in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
—– Live for perfect gruel
—– Not too warm or cool just right
—– I Pika hear me roar .
An “indicator species”…….had not head that term before. Thanks, Sean, for keeping me up to date . As much as I love going to the beach here in January, I deplore what is happening to our planet due to the non-believers and nay sayers on climate change. Say what you will about Al Gore, he certainly knew what he was talking about!
Lovely back lighting!
Fascinating, if troubling, information about this “canary in the mine”, Sean. Thanks for enlightening your gallery followers.
🙂
We need to heed the warning signs.
Love these cuties! They’re hard to spot–great find. 🙂