While many of us are enjoying the final days of summer, some of the smallest residents of the Rocky Mountains are already preparing for winter.
Pikas are busy gathering grasses, leaves, flowers and other plants, collecting them into piles of food they’ll rely on when the snow arrives.
Photo/Mike Reece
The small, rabbit relative lives among the rocky slopes and talus fields of the mountains, where it can often be heard before it is spotted.
During the warmer months, pikas spend much of their time gathering vegetation and building what are known as “haypiles” — carefully stocked food stores that help them survive the winter.
Cochrane photographer Mike Reece captured these photos during a recent shoot in Kananaskis Country, offering a glimpse of one of nature’s smallest and busiest winter preparations.
So while summer isn’t quite over yet, the pikas know what’s coming — and they’re getting ready, one mouthful at a time.
Photo/Mike Reece