Rudolph and the reality of reindeer

ReindeerParents: don’t let your children read this article…

Reindeer are so closely associated with Santa Claus that many people assume they don’t really exist. Unlike Kris Kringle, reindeer are real and are indigenous to the Nordics, northern Russia and China, Canada and Alaska. Oh yes, and the Arctic – home of the North Pole.

Most people believe reindeer and caribou are the same animal but a genetic analysis published in Nature Climate Change shows they are different, but closely related. In the words of Don Moore, a wildlife biologist for the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, reindeer are a “mostly-domesticated race of caribou.” Unfortunately their population is in severe decline – perhaps as much as 60%.

The myths surrounding reindeer obscure reality.

Reindeer can’t fly but they can swim up to six miles per hour. They partly owe their swimming skills to their coat. The hair that makes up a reindeer’s coat is hollow, trapping air, which provides insulation for warmth and buoyancy for swimming.

Rudolph’s shiny red nose was designed to guide Santa’s sleigh but it may not have been needed. Researchers at University College London discovered reindeer are the only mammals that see ultraviolet (UV) light. As the lead researcher said, “reindeer can not only see ultraviolet light but they can also make sense of the image to find food and stay safe. Humans and almost all other mammals could never do this.”

By convention, we leave cookies and milk for Santa. To give Santa the strength to make it around the world in one day, the milk should probably be from reindeer. Reindeer milk is 20% butterfat and 11% protein; in comparison, cow’s milk is only 4% fat and 3% protein.

Oh, and one more thing. Of the more than 45 species of deer, only female reindeer grow antlers. Since males shed their antlers in early Winter while females shed theirs in the Spring, the odds are Santa’s sleigh is powered by females.

Maybe Rudolph should have been called Rudelle.

, , , ,

9 Responses to Rudolph and the reality of reindeer

  1. Andrew Slipper December 22, 2014 at 11:10 pm #

    Probably shouldn’t tell the kids this either, but Reindeer meat tastes great and has fewer calories, fat and cholesterol than beef, pork and lamb. I had some last night but can’t tell you if it was Rudolph or Rudelle.

  2. Josefin December 23, 2014 at 8:19 am #

    Santa’s sleigh is powered by females…. Now, I understand why he can make it around the world in only one day 🙂

    • Darriel Dawne December 23, 2014 at 8:51 am #

      +1 Josefin

  3. 1stpeaksteve December 23, 2014 at 9:11 am #

    The team could be comprised of female impersonators!

  4. ginalondon January 5, 2015 at 4:47 am #

    Great article – and one that took me back to that “expose” piece I did for CNN many years back – blowing the doors on the gender cover-up of Santa’s reindeer! 😉 Happy New Year! http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0112/22/smn.14.html

    • Jonathan Becher January 5, 2015 at 11:35 am #

      Thanks Gina, Happy New Year to you as well. Hadn’t seen your 2001 exposé yet — nice twist getting Mrs. Claus to chime in.

  5. Joerg January 14, 2015 at 6:20 am #

    Interesting indeed.
    And I can also confirm the tastiness of reindeer meat.
    But ‘Rudelle’?
    As of tomorrow I’ll be a German for 50 years and have never ever come across ‘Rudelle’.
    And neither the German Wikipedia nor http://www.vornamen.de know ‘Rudelle’.
    That must be coming out of a very deep and dark corner, and incidentally is very difficult to find on German but more on English websites.
    The German female version of Rudolf would be Rudolfine…
    😉

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Rudolph and the reality of reindeer | Business Intelligence Info - December 31, 2014

    […] blog was originally posted on Manage by Walking Around on December 22, […]

  2. Yule Moon: A Rare Full Moon On December 25 - Manage By Walking Around - December 21, 2015

    […] be entirely illuminated by the sun at 3:11 am PT (11:11 am GMT) on Friday December 25. This means Santa and his reindeer will have extra visibility this year, lessening the chance they miss your […]

Leave a Reply

 

%d