Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Silky phacelia
Mountain mammals
Pika
Living in rock piles at high altitudes is a tiny relative of the rabbit family, the
pika
(Ochotona princeps),
pronounced PEE-ka or PIE-ka. You may see it or hear its distinctive
little “eek” in rocky places along the Yellowstone trails or at the Hoodoos (Silver Gate) near
Mammoth. Pikas (also called rock rabbits or coneys) are usually less than 8 inches (20 cm)
long, with round ears and no tails. They do not hibernate but survive the winters on the large
stashes of hay they've carefully dried and stored during the summers.
he
bighorn sheep
(Ovis canadensis)
has been prized historically by hunters for the won-
derful curl of horn on the mature males, but hunting them is now strictly limited throughout
the Rocky Mountains. Small herds of bighorn sheep roam around Mount Washburn and from
Mount Everts north to Sheep Mountain outside the park. There are about two hundred big-
horns in the park, sometimes causing traffic jams along the Dunraven Pass road.
