Fuzzy, bright-eyed and no bigger than a baked potato, the American pika is the kind of critter you could imagine starring in a blockbuster animated movie for kids. With its high-pitched squeaks, its lightning quickness and its habit of racing around all summer to harvest and sun-dry “hay piles” of grasses and wildflowers for its winter meals, the tiny rabbit relative is one comical ball of fluff. But what’s happening to the pika is anything but amusing: Climate change has it in the hot seat. Thick fur, heat-conserving roundish bodies and the use of snowpack as insulation help pikas surv... (p. 16)