Living on the Mountaintops
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This is a link to a map of the mountains of British Columbia and a close up of the Tatshenshini.
Anise Swallowtail: a common mountain species. Robert Cannings.
This is a photograph of an Anise Swallowtail butterfly, with blue, white and red markings.
Many insects use mountains to get together for mating — an effective strategy termed "hill-topping". If everybody flies upward in mountainous country, sooner or later you meet many of your species at the top of a peak. Some kinds of butterflies and true flies are particularly abundant hill-toppers.
Willow Ptarmigan, in winter. David Fraser.
This is a photograph of a Willow Ptarmigan in its white winter plumage against the snow.
All three of the world's species of ptarmigan, a kind of small grouse, live on British Columbia's mountains. They have remarkable adaptations for high-elevation life, including snow-white winter feathers (a striking change from their mottled brown summer plumage), feathered snowshoe-like feet, insulating feather structures and the use of snow burrows for shelter.
Common Pika. Robert Cannings.
This is a photograph of a Common Pika, a small relative of the rabbit, with short rounded ears.
Pikas, small relatives of rabbits, survive the mountains' long winters and heavy snow by storing food during the brief summer for use later in the year. They live in rock slopes and gather herbs and grasses, drying them in little haystacks.
Living on the Mountaintops - 
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