One of my favorite outdoor hobbies is hiking. Thankfully, Oregon is an incredible place to hike, with a vast network of trails, most (if not all) with breathtaking views. In mid-September, my husband and I hiked Table Rock. This is a fairly moderate hike with views of Mt. Hood, Jefferson and Three Sisters. It was a gorgeous day to hike, with the end-of-summer weather that I love: sunny, breezy, warm but not hot, "jeans and t-shirt"-type weather. Nova, our super-agressive, killer pit bull (kidding, she loves people as long as they pet her and give her treats; she'd make a terrible guard dog) was a trooper and completed the hike with us and was completely oblivious to most of the wildlife along the way. Here are a few photos from the hike.
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| Pika - Ochotona princeps |
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| Nova |
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| Spider Web |
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| Mt. Jefferson |
After seeing pikas in the wild for the first time on this hike, I decided to look up some information about them. I was surprised to learn that they are lagamorphs, not rodents, due to their second pair of upper incisors. This grouping means they are related to rabbits and hares, which are also lagamorphs. Who knew? Pikas are such cute creatures and they emit this adorable little "eeee!" sound to alert each other of the presence of a potential threat (predator or territory trespasser).
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