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Reindeer

Reindeer

With Christmas fast approaching our attention often turns to the traditions and myths that surround this celebration. One of the most popular icons, of course, is Santa Claus and his reindeer drawn sleigh with the famous Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer in the lead. Read on to find out more about the lives of real reindeer as well as the origin of Rudolph.



The origins of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created for Montgomery Ward department stores in 1939 by a writer named Robert L. May. He was asked to come up with a Christmas story which could be given away to shoppers as a promotional gimmick. A year latter, May's brother in law and songwriter, Johnny Marks, developed the lyrics and melody for the hit song which Gene Autry finally recorded in 1949. Two million copies were sold, coming in second only to White Christmas, by Bing Crosby. This paved the way to the ever popular TV special narrated by Burl Ives in 1964, making Rudolph the world's most famous reindeer of all.

About Reindeer

The reindeer is a ruminant mammal, genus Rangifer, of the deer family, found in arctic and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America. Reindeer are semi-domesticated caribou. Although similar, there are fundamental differences in the behavior of reindeer and their wild cousins, caribou. They tend to be smaller than caribou, with shorter legs, and are a lighter color. It is believed they have been domesticated in Eurasia for at least 7000 years, which is longer than the horse. In Eurasia reindeer are classified as either domesticated or wild, while in North America they are called reindeer if they are of the Eurasian domesticated variety, or caribou if they are of the wild variety.

The Eurasian reindeer, is a small deer, the male standing about 4 ft (120 cm) high at the shoulder and weighing about 250 lb (113 kg), but it is extremely strong and has great powers of endurance. Reindeer have long fur, light brown in summer and whitish in winter, with dense woolly undercoats. The antlers are many pronged, with characteristically curved main stems that sweep back and up from the forehead, then turn forward. Reindeer are gregarious and migratory; they travel hundreds of miles between their summer and winter grounds in herds of up to 200,000 animals. They feed on a variety of plant matter, particularly grasses in summer and lichen in winter.

Did you know?

  • Even in normal winter conditions, a reindeer loses 20 per cent of its autumn weight.
  • Reindeer endure temperatures of up to thirty degrees Celsius in summer and freezing temperatures of minus forty degrees Celsius in winter, thanks to unique hairs which trap air providing them with excellent insulation. These hairs also help keep them buoyant in the water.
  • A calf gets up on its feet as soon as half an hour after its birth and can run with the herd within 24 hours.
  • Reindeer feed on moss because it contains a special chemical that helps keep their body fluids warm much as antifreeze keeps a car from freezing up in winter
  • It is the only deer in which both sexes have antlers, which they shed every year
  • A reindeer can travel 40 mi (64 km) a day, pulling twice its own weight on a sled.
  • The hooves are broad and rounded and in winter become concave, providing a good grip on icy ground.
  • Their hooves also make a clicking sound when they walk. When people hear the sound, they often think that the reindeer has an injured ankle. But this is normal
  • The lifespan of the reindeer is relatively long - females can live for as much as 18?20 years. Males can live to be over ten years old.
  • It is a ruminant and has four stomachs.
  • There is a high degree of synchrony in the timing of the births, an adaptation to reduce predation by 'swamping' the predators. This allows most of the calves to develop to the state where they are able to escape from grizzlies and wolves.