Both male and female reindeer have antlers.
Caribou and Reindeer are close cousins. During the last ice age melt (about 10,000 years ago) the ocean levels increased separating both the North American and Asian continents. The great herds could no longer co-mingle. The North American breed is about 10-20% greater in size.
All reindeer can be domesticated, you can put reins on them. They are herded like sheep and cattle and owned by a reindeer herder. Only in America are reindeer treated like "wild" white tales and mule deer.
A Reindeer's gestration period is 8 months and usually give birth around Easter. A healthy baby reindeer can out run a man within 24 hours of birth.
For male reindeer the antlers fall off around the month of December after the annual mating season known as the "rut" Female antlers fall off within days of giving birth.
The difference between "antlers" and "horns" is antlers are temporary and horns are permanent.
Reindeer have two coats made of hollow hair and can withstand minus forty degrees . They lose the longer winter coat of hair just after winter thaw. On our farm Robins build spring nests made of sticks and reindeer hair.
Large fans blow cool air on our deer during the warm months. In the summer heat they sit comforable in the barn rarely venturing outside. Except for water and feed they rarely use the barn in the winter months.
You can feed 10-20 reindeer for the same price as one 1,000 pound cow. The meat is lean (not that we would eat one). You can milk reindeer but the fat content is greater than cow's milk. Reindeer milk cheese and butter is rare and extremely expensive. Reindeer cheese, if you can get it, costs an average of $100.00 a pound.
One small tub of reindeer butter averages $25.00.
Reindeer hooves are large and act like snow shoes on deep snow, used like shovels for digging in snow to reach food and great for paddling across lakes and rivers in the tundra. Yes, reindeer swim and the hollow hair acts like a flotation device.
Santa and the Children...
Putting all the toy marketing aside the MOST popular asked for gift at Christmas is the "umm". Santa asks, "what would you like for Christmas this year?" 8 out of 10 children say, "Umm."
Relutant children visiting Santa should never be forced into sitting on his lap. Be patient, let the children watch and learn. If Santa has it together he will work his magic and you can get that all important photograph. Patience works. Some children need a year or two.
