Anyone that periodically checks this blog knows that its been a while since it was updated — around Thanksgiving, I think. Lot of reasons, none of which are especially exciting… just haven’t had the few minutes it takes to write anything.
Anyhow, we’re rapidly approaching Christmas and I noticed that Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was on TV a couple of nights ago. I didn’t watch it (I have seen it a few times over the years) but it got me to thinking about reindeer. A few years ago we took a family trip to Alaska. And while it was great entertainment, it turned out that it was also very educational. We were fortunate to see a lot of reindeer in Alaska and were able to get up close and personal in some of the “camps” we visited. Something that I learned that I probably should have known is that reindeer and caribou are different names for the same species. Reindeer usually refers to the domesticated variety of the species that are herded by humans and do things like pull sleds. These animals are typically smaller and have shorter legs than the “wild” version of the species. In fact, in Siberia, caribou are referred to as “wild” reindeer.
Even though Rudolph and Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen and that crew are apparently able to fly, we didn’t notice any flying in Alaska, but we did learn that they can run as fas as 48 miles an hour…
Is that fast enough to get Santa around the world on Christmas Eve? I’m not one to judge, I just believe….
Everyone knows that Santa’s reindeers live at the North Pole… and their relatives reside in the cold of Alaska, Canada, Russia, etc. — where they graze on tundra plants. Of course those lucky enough to be chosen by Santa get to share in the cookies and milk around Christmas time. Reindeers are covered with hollow hairs that trap in air and keep them well-insulated from the cold. Plus, their circulatory systems keep the cooler blood in the reindeers legs from drawing heat from the warm blood in their core body.
The only time anyone has heard or been awakened by Santa’s reindeer on Christmas Eve is when they’ve heard their hoofs on the roof. That’s because reindeer are very quite — especially around Christmas time. Female reindeer tend to communicate mainly in the first months after the birth of their offspring in the summer and males vocalize exclusively during the autumn mating season.
Now here’s something that I didn’t know, or never even thought about before our Alaska trip. Ready for this? All the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh are girls. How do I know? One of the things we learned in Alaska is that male reindeer shed their antlers at the end of the mating season in early December. But females keep their (thinner) antlers throughout the winter. So if all the pictures I’ve seen are to be believed, it’s an all girl team pulling Santa and his sleigh full of toys through the sky on Christmas Eve.
As usual, there’s really no point to this — if it bothers anyone that a girl reindeer is named Rudolph, just think about it… If Johnny Cash can have a boy named Sue, why can’t Santa have a girl reindeer named Rudolph?
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