the Pfeifhasen is a quite old family within the order of the Hasenartigen. The prime of the Pfeifhasen was in the Miozän approximately 25 million years ago. Today, the single living type Ochotona 16 extinct types faces. The Pfeifhasen let themselves derive from the Eozän directly from original Hasenartigen.
Shape All Pfeifhasen or Pikas, as they are also named, are quite small, inconspicuous shapes. they remind with its short ones, spreads and häutigen ears sooner at guinea pigs than at hares.
All types are smaller than 30 cm (length). The Zwergpfeifhase (Ochotona pusilla) has only one total-length of 15 cm. The face and also the hind legs are clearly shorter than with the members of the hare-family (hares, family Leporidae). No tail is external visible. The fur is, as with the real hares, reddish-brown until dun. The stomach is more and more brightly than the back colored.
Habitat The type Ochotona is spread in over 12 types over the whole north and central-Asia as far as into the western North America. The Zwergpfeifhase seems also to the Ural in Europe's most outer east.
Pfeifhasen only occur in restrained until cool areas. The wide steppes and high-steppes of Asia are preferred settlement-area. they live in the mountains also between rocks and in gravel-hillsides. Also forests become rarer or, as from the field-hare, also light groves or thickets lives in.
Way of life The Pfeifhasen, in contrast to the real hares, are day-active. However, they prefer the morning or nightly twilight. The animals live mainly from different steppe-grass.
Like the rabbit, also the Pfeifhasen Erdbaue aim, that are interconnected in the sometimes quite large colonies through walks. Also natural caves or crevices are used as shelter.
The Pfeifhasen live in a community, in which however, each individual animal has its solid territory, that is marked with excrement or a secretion of the cheek-glands and is claimed against other Artgenossen.
Although the Pfeifhasen live in regions Zentralasiens and also Canada, in which hard winter is the rule with a long-in time closed snow-blanket, they don't hold any hibernation. For this time, the animals get themselves a food-reserve in quite uncommon manner. Normally is positioned by other animals of nutrient-rich, easy to camp food-supplies, as nuts or Sämereien, or they put on themselves a fat-paunch. Pfeifhasen however bring in a subterranean hay-reserve for the winter.
In the warm season, the Pfeifhasen grass bite off in ground-proximity and collect it in the mouth. The grass dry in the sun and are protected carefully in rain under rock-pre-jumps. If the grass dried to hay, so it is brought in in caves or deepenings for the winter. Several kilograms hay can have collected in a camp so.
Since the Pikas often live together in large colonies, wide surfaces with numerous reserve-camps are covered.
The Asian nomads often in the winter take advantage of these "natural" food-reserves by driving its herds into these areas or collecting the hay-reserve and brings for the pasture-animals. In strict winters, numerous Pikas then must die of food-lack.
The name Pfeifhase comes from from the frequently to hear, very high sounds. The Pfeiftöne serve also as warning-signal in the colonies, about before the numerous enemies, above all marten-types, owls, gripping-birds and snakes, to warn.
The combination-time of the Pfeifhasen begins approximately like with the hares in May. There are several throws, in which the females bring to the world 4-5 kids each.
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