About the Animals
Reindeer are incredibly quick learners and can be tamed very easily. Their cloven hooves allow their feet to gain traction in the snow (which is perhaps what gave them the reputation as Santa’s sleigh-towers), and they are excellent swimmers. They also acclimatize naturally to low temperatures by sprouting additional hair, particularly around their muzzles.
Males can grow more than 3.9 feet high at the shoulder and weigh more than 550 pounds. They eat a considerable amount of lichen in their wild Arctic habitat, but they’re fairly content with grass and a mixture of calf pellets, maize, and molasses
Fun Fact 1
Male reindeer antlers can be over 50 inches long, whereas a female’s reach about 20 inches long
Fun Fact 2
They are the only deer species to have hair that fully covers their nose
Fun Fact 3
In the wild, reindeer typically have herds of 10 to a few hundred. In spring, they may gather to form herds of 50,000 to 500,000
Fun Fact 4
Some reindeer have tendons that make a clicking noise when they walk
Fun Fact 5
Golden eagles are a leading predator of wild reindeer calves in some seasons