Santa’s Reindeer Supersitions

When Christmas is around the corner, the most popular posts on social media are around Santa.

What are the names of Santa's Reindeer? How many reindeers does Santa have? Christmas is most people favourite time of year, with the twinkling lights - shining Christmas trees and children love Santa's reindeer, peaking out the window wishing it to snow on Christmas eve with a desire to see the reindeer floating in the air. Of course all next to a roaring warm fire! So the first question we must first answer in this article is: who are Santa's reindeer? The answer to this question lies in the poem about a visit to the St. Nicholas that is well known by the title “The Night Before Christmas” that was written in 1823 by Clement Clarke Moore. And the funny part about it is that they all have male-sounding names. This and more fun facts about Santa’s Reindeers is what this article is all about.

The list of santa’s reindeer is found in a poem that was in the story “The the night before Christmas” written by Clement C Moore. This is also known as “A visit from St Nicholas” this details the reindeer names as follows: Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Cupod, Comet, Dunder (known as Donner). Blixem (known as Blitzen) Here are some suppositions around Santas reindeer: Dancer is the reindeer that shows the most speed the most. Rudolph was only added later down the line by the song. The most famous reindeer is Rudolf who has a red nose.

Caribou and Reindeer Are One And The Same Thing

European and Asians refer to them as Reindeers while the Americans call them Caribou; this is one and the same thing. Long ago, they used to be presumed to be from different species, but not any more. The reindeer are of two different groups; the woodland and the tundra which are then divided depending on which region they live in and not their global location. They are then further divided into species depending on who is doing the classification; 9 to 13 species is what you will come up with.

Santa’s Reindeer Are the RT Oxyrhynchus Subspecies From The Svalbard Island off Norway

This is all from the poem by Clement Moore is the one which first brought the reindeer to the world of Santa. In the poem, they are described as being “tiny”. The Svalbard is the only reindeer which can be considered as being tiny. They weigh about a half of what the other average reindeer's species weigh and are a foot shorter in height and that is why they are proven to be useful when landing on roofs.

Santa’s Reindeers Are Either Female or Or Young Males

For sure it is known that Santa’s Reindeers cannot be older males because older males shed their antlers in December and Christmas time is when they are seen to have their antlers back. What this implies is that it is either Santa’s sleigh was pulled by young male reindeer constantly changed as they age, or they were females. So depending on your imagination, you can decide to imagine they were all females or young males, doing a rotation once they get older.

Reindeers are the Only Mammals That Can See Ultra Violet Light

It is a known fact that human being’s visions see up to 400nm, while the reindeer’ vision is up to 320 nm. That is the spectrum that can be seen with a black light. But for the reindeer, that spectrum can still help them see things in the glow of the white Arctic that the human vision cannot see. Human beings cannot see urine and white far in the snow, but the reindeer can see them as they show up in high contrast.

When They Migrate, They Can Go The Furthest As Compared to Other Terrestrial Mammals

North American reindeer are some of the reindeer which are known to travel up to 3,100 miles per year with a daily coverage of up to 23 miles. When they are doing a high speed, they run up to 50 miles per hour and when it comes to swimming, they can do 6.2 miles per hour. The migration groups are smaller during winter and increase tremendously during spring, with herds ranging from 50,000 to 500,000. Winter is the time the reindeer do mate and there is competition between the bucks, which normally split the crowds. Within 90 days after birth, the baby reindeer are already able to run.

Reindeer Used To Live Further South

At present, reindeer live in the Northern part of the world. Long ago when the earth was peaceful and humans’ friendly, they used to roam all over, covering a large place. They used to spread into Spain, Nevada, and Tennessee. The habitat has nowadays shrunk forcing them to be concentrated in the north. In the 19th century, some were still spotted in Southern Idaho.

The Reindeer Go By Many Names

Depending on the location, you will find the reindeers being called by different names.So don’t be shocked when in Britain you find that, what you know as Caribou is referred to as reindeer.When you visit Europe, it is referred to with a different name altogether, which is in Iranian and when translated into English, it means “Cattle”. This also makes sense given that, at some point, the reindeer were domesticated animals for fur, milk, transportation and meat in Eastern Europe.

It is Hard To Tell The Sex of The Reindeer

The male of the reindeer grows antlers, but it is not true for all species. The Same case applies to the female; though some of them do have antlers, some species do not have antlers. During some specific seasons, you can tell the species of the reindeer by checking out the antlers as the male will lose their antlers in spring or winter while females shed theirs during summer time. In comparison, the males are larger than the female in body size. But chances are, you might come across a very large female and a very small male. Telling the female from the male for sure is a tough task.

It Is Through Poetry That Reindeer Were Connected To Santa

Before Moore’s poem about a visit from Santa Nicholas in 1823, there is nowhere Santa and reindeer were connected. So it is the poem by Moore that people started associating Santa with reindeer.

Reindeers are Destined To Live in Cold, Hostile Environments:

It is tough living in the tundra, but the reindeer have it smooth there. This is because they have an amazing evolutionary enhancement with their noses, it easily adapt. Excellent insulation is provided by their great fur, which also keeps them floating while in the water. This is a very important role of their fur as they travel most of the time, crossing lakes and rivers when they are migrating. Yes, now you know facts about the famous reindeer in Santa’s story. Share the same with your friends and relatives on social media.