This pika’s apparent forked tongue consists of two long blades of grass it was eating, holding on to them only with its mouth in typical pika fashion.
Tag Archives: Pinnacle Peak Trail
Sunset on the Rocks
When I visited Mount Rainier National Park last fall, I saw more pikas on the the Pinnacle Peak Trail than I’ve ever seen on a trail before. It would only be a slight exaggeration to say I saw more pikas on the trail than I had seen in my entire life until then. They weren’t all close to the trail, the talus fields are extensive and often lead far from the trail, but some of them were close enough for pictures, including this pika that popped out of a rock wall near sunset.
Chipmunk Cheeks
I hesitated with the title of this post since this is clearly a ground squirrel and not a chipmunk, but I grew up in the east and when at dinner I stuffed my cheeks the way this squirrel has, they told me I had “chipmunk cheeks”.
Like that was a bad thing.
Chipmunk or Squirrel?
To the casual observer, a golden-mantled ground squirrel might appear to be part of the chipmunk family given the light-and-dark stripes that run the length of its body, but it is, you might have guessed, a ground squirrel. Even with a quick glance, you can tell the difference as in chipmunks the stripes extend into the face, while in ground squirrels they do not.
A Penchant for Beggary
When I reached the top of the Pinnacle Peak Trail, this bold golden-mantled ground squirrel hoped I would offer up some of my food, and when I did not, tried to help himself.
I did eventually shoo the little thief away, not because it was being aggressive, but because its constant movements were kicking fine dirt onto my camera bag and I didn’t want to risk it also getting on my camera gear and gumming up the lenses. I saw many ground squirrels on this trip, even on trails more popular than this one, and even on this trail just a short distance away, yet this is the only one that approached me offering to lighten my load.