The American Pika is a small brownish ball of fur that's part farmer, part ventriloquist. A member of the rabbit family, pikas like to burrow under rocks and are active year-round.

At home on boulder-covered hillsides across western North America especially at higher elevations, the American Pika is an agrarian wonder. As summer continues, it starts hauling grasses and other plants back to its nest and spreading the plants out to cure on nearby rocks. The result: little haystacks that the pika moves periodically for better drying and protection from the rain. Later the pika stashes these supplies in its nest between the rocks and feasts on them during the winter.

But that's not the pika's only trick! It can also throw its voice. It's believed to be a special technique for throwing off predators. When danger seems near, the pika sounds a call. With each of its distinctive bleats the pika jerks its body up and forward. Experts believe this jerking motion is what makes the pika's voice seem to echo as if from afar.