Summers go by really quickly in the far north, and small creatures have to work hard to get ready for the long cold nights ahead. Collared pikas do not hibernate in the winter and rely on caches of dried vegetation for food, so summer months are spent industriously gathering a wide variety of vegetation, including grasses, flowering plants, and even small shrubs that grow close to their rocky habitat and stacking it in semi-protected haypiles to dry in the sun. When harvesting, once they’ve gathered a mouthful, they come bouncing back in short spurts, hesitating only momentarily on the way before depositing the load and moving back to the top of a boulder for a short rest. Tracking their rapid movements is challenging (especially with a long lens), and using advanced camera functions like pre-continuous shooting (Canon) can be advantageous.