Editing Pika (section)

==Activity==
[[File:Pika pile.JPG|thumb|Vegetation pile drying on rocks for subsequent storage, [[Little Cottonwood Canyon]], [[Utah]]]]
[[File:Ochotona princeps pika haying in rocks.jpg|thumb|American pika with mouthful of dried grass, [[Sequoia National Park]], [[California]]]]

Pikas are active during daylight ([[Diurnality|diurnal]]) or twilight hours ([[crepuscular]]), with higher-elevation species generally being more active during the daytime. They show their peak activity just before the winter season. Pikas do not [[hibernation|hibernate]] and remain active throughout the winter by traveling in tunnels under rocks and snow and eating dried plants that they have stored.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 21, 2018 |title=American Pikas |url=https://www.nps.gov/band/learn/nature/pika.htm |access-date=January 18, 2024 |website=National Park Service}}</ref> Rock-dwelling pikas exhibit two methods of foraging: the first involves direct consumption of food, and the second is characterized by the gathering of plants to store in a "haypile" of cached plants.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Andrew T. |title=Lagomorphs: Pikas, Rabbits, and Hares of the World |last2=Charlotte H. |first2=Charlotte H. |last3=Alves |first3=Paulo C. |last4=Hackländer |first4=Klaus |date=January 1, 2018 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-1421423401 |publication-date=January 1, 2018 |pages=69 |language=English}}</ref>

The impact of human activity on the [[tundra]] ecosystems where pikas live has been recorded dating back to the 1970s.<ref>Brown, R. W., R. S. Johnston, and K. Van Cleve. "Rehabilitation problems of [[Arctic]] and alpine regions." ''Reclamation of drastically disturbed lands'' (1978): 23-44.</ref> Rather than hibernate during winter, pikas forage for grasses and other forms of plant matter and stash these findings in protected dens in a process called "haying".  They eat the dried plants during the winter.<ref>Dearing, M. Denise. "The function of haypiles of pikas (''Ochotona princeps'')." ''Journal of Mammalogy'' 78.4 (1997): 1156-1163. APA</ref> When pikas mistake humans as predators, they may respond to humans as they do to other species that do prey on pikas. Such interactions with humans have been linked to pikas having reduced amounts of foraging time, consequentially limiting the amount of food they can stockpile for winter months.<ref name="Stafl-2015">{{Cite journal|last1=Stafl|first1=Natalie|last2=O'Connor|first2=Mary I.|date=2015-08-01|title=American Pikas' (''Ochotona princeps'') Foraging Response to Hikers and Sensitivity to Heat in an Alpine Environment|url=https://doi.org/10.1657/AAAR0014-057|journal=Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research|volume=47|issue=3|pages=519–527|doi=10.1657/AAAR0014-057|bibcode=2015AAAR...47..519S |s2cid=86263545|issn=1523-0430}}</ref> Pikas prefer foraging in temperatures below {{convert|25|C}}, so they generally spend their time in shaded regions and out of direct sunlight when temperatures are high.<ref name="Stafl-2015" /> A link has also been found between temperature increases and lost foraging time, where for every increase of {{cvt|1|C-change}} to the ambient temperature in alpine landscapes home to pikas, those pikas lose 3% of their foraging time.<ref name="Stafl-2015" />

Eurasian pikas commonly live in family groups and share duties of gathering food and keeping watch. Some species are territorial. North American pikas (''[[American pika|O. princeps]]'' and ''[[O. collaris]]'') are [[wiktionary:asocial|asocial]], leading solitary lives outside the breeding season.<ref name=AnimalDiversity>{{cite web |url= http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Ochotona_collaris/ |title= ''Ochotona collaris''|last= Leininger |first= Charlene |date= 2009 |website= Animal Diversity Web|publisher= |access-date= March 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628150601/http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Ochotona_collaris/ |archive-date=2013-06-28 }}</ref>