Do we really think that Margo's dog is trying to catch pikas? They're just so cute! And they eat flowers!
Could pikas really live by Ensign Elementary?
David Attenborough has some good information about pikas. (Sorry the title has the word damn in it.) The video clip is 3 minutes long. Those little pikas work so hard!
Ensign's mascot is the bald eagle. Maybe they should change their mascot to be a pika!
It was great to learn about the Pika and see this little animal have so much energy to run back and forth carrying his winter supply of leaves and flowers to his nest in the rocks so he would have his food supply when the snow comes. He was very jaunty as made his several hundred trips in one day.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the UCDC site, the mountain ranges through out the state are high value habitat, with the higher elevations being critical habitat for the Pika. Long ago I learned that Pikas are known for spreading out the flowers and grass on rocks to dry in the sun before storing it. So as you are out in the mountains, pay attention to the large rock out-cropings for signs of Pikas. While it could be Pikas that Margo's dog is after, I think it is more likely to be gophers, or as we called them - Potguts. I used to hunt them with my friends. They are a challenging target, small, quick , and seldom still long enough to get a bead on them.
ReplyDeleteBy the way Utah also has a population of Nutria in the rivers and streams along the Wasatch Front.
I loved hearing and seeing pikas. Silver Lake is a great spot. I also like the marmots at Snowbird!
ReplyDeleteThere are holes in the grass up here at Ensign, quite often, like digging tunnel outlets. Gophers?
ReplyDeleteBut I have hiked the hills behind Ensign since I was a kid and have never seen a Pika, though I have see what could be them on other hikes in Utah. Behind Ensign I have had very close encounters with Coyotes, tarantulas, bats, rattlesnakes, Eagles, Jerusalem Crickets, Weasels, Moose and large herds of Deer, but never Pika. I think Ensign will keep the Eagles, for now :)
Good grief, Stephanie. I think I would quit walking my dog up there. My little, bitty dog took off after the deer in my backyard up at Bear Lake until she realized they were much larger than she was. She turned around really fast and came back.
ReplyDeleteI have also had a mountain lion in my back yard up there. I could possibly have some of the pikas, too, but I haven't ever spotted them. I have been too busy keeping the squirrels and woodpeckers from using my home as their personal residence.
I almost did after the coyote run-in. They are larger than I thought and come much closer than I thought. I almost had a heart attack. Luckily I had my dog by the collar and she didn't see. She looks like a red fox, so it might have been curious about her. A fox in my neighborhood follows us sometimes and cough-barks to get her attention.
DeleteI love pikas. I have seen them up in Smith and Morehouse Area in the Uintah Mountains. They would not be near Ensign, they live in higher elevations and they live mostly in rocky outcroppings, they do minimal burrowing. They are a bit in trouble, we are encroaching on their habitat, and they are very shy. Most of all they are incredibly cute!
ReplyDeleteDawn Ann, I am happy to know you have seen them up by Smith and Morehouse. We have a cabin up that way. I haven't seen them there, but will now keep my eyes open for them. We did have a nice nest of garter snakes under the porch last fall. But my favorite was the Mother moose and calf that lingered in our front yard for an hour one day when we had pulled up in the truck with our yellow lab. We couldn't get out of the truck until she finally wandered off.
ReplyDeleteMy best friends father was working in the last gas station on Parley's Way in the early 1950s one winter, when a tow truck pulled in with a smashed up semi-truck behind it. The driver of the semi had been headed up Echo Canyon when he saw a moose standing in the road, eating the grass exposed along the edge of the highway. He stopped, waited and then honked at the moose. The bull charged his truck 3 times - pushing the grill, the radiator and the fan back into the engine block - and then went back to eating the grass.
DeleteThat's a great story to pass down through the generations. I just shared it with my husband and will share it with my children. It wasn't until I read "Hatchet" a few years ago, that I realized the power and danger of a moose. Thank you, Joseph, for giving us that moose experience.
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