My blog day happens to fall on December 25th, and I’d feel remiss if I didn’t focus on the Bad Boys of Christmas--those boys who are naughty so much more than nice.
Reindeer.
Or, as we call in the western United States: caribou. I had the pleasure (well, sorta) of spending an afternoon on a caribou ranch, where we had a wagon ride through herds roaming free on a frozen tundra. Understand, I’m a pampered city girl. After a lot of, “Cool, wow, are they BIG,” I mostly said things like, “I’m cold...can we go back yet?” and “Breathe through your mouth, kids, to minimize the stink.”
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Here are some fun facts about reindeers, courtesy of Wikipedia:
--Reindeer have specialized noses. Incoming cold air is warmed by the animal's body heat before entering the lungs.
--Their hooves adapt to the season. In the summer, when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become sponge-like and provide extra traction. In the winter, the pads shrink and tighten, exposing the rim of the hoof which cuts into the ice and crusted snow to keep it from slipping.
--Males battle for access to females. Two males will lock each other’s antlers together and try to push each other away. The most dominant males can collect as many as 15-20 females as partners.
Uh-huh...see? Bad boys!
In any case, it wouldn’t be fair--and it wouldn’t be Christmas--if I didn’t close with a picture of everybody’s favorite reindeer.
And to those of you who celebrate, Merry Christmas!
Tina
Tina Ferraro
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6 comments:
Gotta love caribou as well as Rudolph! My best friend in high school, Jennifer (Hi, Jen!) had a last name of Rudolph. I'm actually going to see her on Monday, not that anyone cares.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanza, and Happy New Year!
Tina,
When were you on this ranch? Thanks for the fascinating facts.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
The ranch sounds fun, Tina! Who doesn't love Rudolph? ;)
Merry Christmas!
Looks like you had fun at the ranch ; ) the reindeers are definitely bad boys, thanks for telling us.
Merry Christmas to you ^^
I *heart* Rudolph!!!
Little known off topic fact--
I heard that both male and female reindeer have antlers and they both drop them during the winter months. However, the males drop theirs much earlier than the females and it's rare that a male reindeer would still have his antlers in December. So Santa's most likely being pulled by a bunch of girls with boy names.
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