THIS JUST IN: The American Pika

by Meg on August 23, 2009

Sure, he’s no JAPANESE Pikachu, but he’s damn close. Roundness caused by lack of arms and legs helps:

Pika-article

Hey Judy W., those American scientists better make the eyes bigger if we’re gonna compete with Japan…

{ 46 comments }

1 Lerrinus 08.23.09 at 7:41 pm

OMG that’s cute! :-D

2 volatile 08.23.09 at 7:42 pm

What animal is that? it’s sooooooo cute and round!!! little beady eyes are just as cute as, if not more cute than, large round eyes!!

3 Serena 08.23.09 at 7:50 pm

what a delightful morsel! shaped like a powder puff! *gently nuzzles the pika*

4 victoreia 08.23.09 at 7:56 pm

Hovertext for the win!

5 Nikki 08.23.09 at 8:01 pm

That is such a pretty photo. The pika looks pensive.

6 Sandra 08.23.09 at 8:07 pm

Cutie!

American pika, I choose you!

7 chanpon 08.23.09 at 8:14 pm

Does he emit electricity like the Japanese pikachus too? If so, I’d be careful of the snorgling.

8 Decca 08.23.09 at 8:19 pm

I so love pikas. So galactically adorable. But, sadly, endangered too.

9 eagleapex 08.23.09 at 8:21 pm

Yeah! Give it up for the Lagomorpha! Take THAT Rodentia! You don’t have ANYTHING on our four incisors!!!!

10 Fo 08.23.09 at 8:23 pm

We love pikas, yes we do!

11 Agatha 08.23.09 at 8:24 pm

It’s like a blob with a smaller, cuter blob on it for a head! <3

12 biscuithead 08.23.09 at 8:27 pm

Ooh! I just love these little barking mouse bunnies!
I remember the old post with the video of David Attenborough filming these little guys!

13 kibblenibble 08.23.09 at 8:33 pm

If you look closely, you can almost see the gently twitching wheeskers…

14 Lula Mae 08.23.09 at 8:34 pm

Loove dee pikaa!

(and they always bring flowers on a date)

15 kibblenibble 08.23.09 at 8:34 pm

wheeskers gently twitching?

16 debg 08.23.09 at 8:38 pm

squeEEEEEEEEE!! (It picks up sound the longer it goes on.)

17 Jamie 08.23.09 at 8:59 pm

Everyone should watch the Pika on David Attenboroughs Life of Mammals, He’s in the Chiselers section and So adorable I couldn’t breathe.

18 Mo K. 08.23.09 at 9:37 pm

Thanks for sharing that vid, Jamie. That was very interesting, and OMG, they are adorable! Love their “Enh! Enh! Enh!” voices. :-)

19 Leslie (NTA) 08.23.09 at 9:40 pm

The famous “Beady Eye” Factor aka B.E.F., strikes again !

20 Sweeda 08.23.09 at 9:57 pm

OMG! O.O I MUST have one! NOW! LOL

21 Lizzy 08.23.09 at 10:05 pm

ZOMG, I totally have the Beanie Baby of this guy! *snorgles it mightily, wishing it was real*

22 Nikki 08.23.09 at 10:43 pm

Oooh, Jamie, that video is great! Their little “meep” sounds, and their perky little ears and mouthfuls of plants. These little critters are beyond adorable.

23 Illise 08.23.09 at 11:17 pm

So cute but i agree bigger eyes could compete more with the japanese ones lol

24 Jess&Friends 08.23.09 at 11:23 pm

No arms or legs? I suppose you would have to get some sack to carry it around in.

25 biscuithead 08.24.09 at 12:32 am

Jamie! That’s the video! Thanks so much!

26 Wend 08.24.09 at 4:11 am

Adorable!!!

27 Andi from NC 08.24.09 at 4:31 am

Want!!!!

28 PUD 08.24.09 at 4:50 am

what a funny and adroable thing it is~

29 Birdcage 08.24.09 at 5:09 am

Many, many, many (many) moons ago, I did a school project on the Pika! That was my pre-interwebs introduction to teh Qte. I had to use the Encyclopaedia Brittanica for my research! There was no Pikapedia back then……

30 bev 08.24.09 at 5:26 am

@Birdcage – I recall having a National Geographic-ish book of some sort that had a section on Pikas. That too was many, many, many (many) moons ago and I was a Pika fan even then. Back in those days, encyclopedias and those mail-order books from Nat. Geo. were our CO.

31 Katrina 08.24.09 at 5:56 am

Crushed by the cute………

32 Rainbowbaby 08.24.09 at 6:11 am

OMG the “eep eep” Is majorly ANERABLE! And I want one of theses to snorgle sooo much

33 jen 08.24.09 at 7:56 am

umm, ok. i’m not sure but i think my head just exploded.

34 Pebble 08.24.09 at 9:50 am

What!? some of those sounds are familiar,
eep eep eep MEOW…

35 Deckard Canine 08.24.09 at 11:25 am

I met a pika in RL before I ever heard of them. He seemed to be calling my real name with a kind of lisp. Lotta volume from such a small animal; guess that’s necessary when you live on a mountain.

36 MissKitty 08.24.09 at 12:09 pm

OMG. Unbelievably cute! Why have I not previously known about these little hamster/chinchilla/rabbit lookin things? I must have 10 or 20. They are small after all. :)

37 Brandi 08.24.09 at 2:48 pm

Adorable creatures, but sadly, they might be the first creatures declared an endangered species due to global warming.

38 Houdi'sMom 08.24.09 at 3:21 pm

I was so thrilled to see pikas turn up on here! I had just been “researching” them a bit again yesterday after a several year gap and found a lot more information available online on them now. There’s a fantastic book “Miracle at Square Top Mountain” by Robert Franklin Leslie, a true story of a summer he spent helping them prepare for winter. On a side note, can anyone tell me how to make an avatar? Thanks!

39 karen 08.24.09 at 5:01 pm

If you hike above treeline in Colorado (about 11,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level), these little guys are all over the place, living in rock piles and collecting mouthfuls of grass to save up in their burrows and eat in the wintertime.

40 Cordelia 08.24.09 at 7:52 pm

What a little sphere of cuteness!

41 chipmunk 08.24.09 at 8:30 pm

I hiked part way up the Maroon Bells near Aspen, Colorado in Summer 1978. A pika came out on a rock 3 feet in front of my face and shreaked his earspliting pika call, then he twitched his whiskers at me as if to say “What did you think of that?”. Then from all over the bowlshaped area of rocks came answering calls from all the competeing pikas – Fantastic! I’ve been a super fan of the little guys ever since. : )

42 DrMUR 08.25.09 at 1:07 am
43 Michael Claymore 08.25.09 at 2:34 am

Better than Pikachu – real!

44 Amanda 08.25.09 at 6:14 am

I just got back from Rocky Mountain National Park in CO. These guys were so cute! They move super quick though, so we spend almost 20 minutes one day trying to get a few good pictures. Worth it!

45 raiu9 08.25.09 at 12:47 pm

The hovertext made me burst a blood vessel in my neck from laughing.

This wins at life. Permanently.

46 Carlisa 09.01.09 at 12:09 pm

Ooooohhhhh!!!! Meg said “DAMN”….Where’s is -ED?!!!!!
….add a *squee*!!!

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