If you are like me, you will probably hear hundreds of pikas before you ever see one. For years, I heard their shrill calls while hiking high ridges and peaks, but no matter how still I stood or how hard I gazed at those rocky mountain slopes, I never saw a real, live pika. Elusive and unique to the western United States, American pikas drove me crazy, taunting me atop a cold, icy mountain summit, nestled deep in a barren talus field under a pile of rocks. They are the last creatures you would expect to find in these places, but their habitat is one where few other mammals ever go—the cold damp climates of high mountain ecosystems. …

This Field Note was written by Jessie Grossman. Would you be interested in writing one? Contact Allison De Jong, Field Notes editor, at adejong [at] montananaturalist [dot] org or 406.327.0405. Please visit the Field Notes website at the Montana Natural History Center for more information.