After a day of training, volunteers commit to looking for and counting specific animals and recording the details. Currently, Citizen Scientists are assisting with mountain goat, common loon, and pika research.
Pikas are the tiny celebrities of wildlife watching in Glacier. Although some dogs might mistake them for a squirrel, pikas are actually small herbivores, related to rabbits, that live on talus-covered slopes in the alpine regions of the park.
Did you know that rather than hibernating, they collect vegetation all summer long to eat through the long winter months??
Since pikas are small and move fast, Citizen Scientists listen for a high pitched EEP! that will ring out over the talus field, and and then begin scanning the surrounding rocks for any sign of the pika that emitted the call.
If there is no sighting, volunteers then begin searching under rocks and in crevices for haypiles and scat, both signs of pika habitation and then record their findings to report back. This work, so valuable to park biologists, is made possible through generous donations to the Glacier Conservancy. Learn more about these projects and how you can help!
 
|
|
|
|
