At this time of year, children everywhere are filled with excitement and wonder at the thought of Santa bringing them presents on Christmas Day. However, Santa would be stranded at the North Pole without his reindeer. The reindeer allow Santa to travel to all the homes of good little boys and girls and leave toys and Christmas cheer all in one night. In the spirit of Christmas, I’ve compiled a few interesting facts about the animal that epitomizes Christmas.
I suppose the first thing you need to understand about reindeer is that in North America they are only called “reindeer” if they are domesticated. If they are wild, then they should be called “caribou”. Wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus) herds live in arctic tundra, mountain tundra, and northern forests. They live in North America, Russia, and Scandinavia. Caribou migrate between boreal forests and tundra during the winter and summer months. They stay on the tundra during summer to eat lush grasses and avoid the biting insects that live in the forests. During the winter, they head to the forests to avoid the winds of the tundra and feed off of lichens, mosses, and small shrubs.
If you want to be the Grinch that stole Christmas, it is legal to hunt non-domesticated reindeer, or caribou, in Alaska and Canada. Before you sight in your rifle, here are a few things to consider. In Alaska, a nonresident general season tag costs $325. All edible meat is required to be salvaged by state law. Also, the meat on the front and hindquarters, as well as the meat on the ribs must remain naturally attached to the bone until they are processed or exported. That means you would have to pack out up to 300 pounds of meat after shooting a caribou.
Primarily in Scandinavia and Siberia, domesticated reindeer do actually pull sleighs. Reindeer are herded and used for meat, hides, and beasts of burden there. Both male and female reindeer have antlers. That means Dancer and Vixen may actually be girls, not guys with girly names. However, females’ antlers are usually smaller than males’. While there’s plenty of Christmas magic that shrouds the reindeer, there are also some interesting facts that make reindeer worthy of your study, not only as an emblem of Christmas but as a part of nature as well.