Reindeer command share of Christmas Eve stage

The intensity of the countdown to Christmas never rains on a parade of reindeer, not on this week every year.

Although the Reindeer Owners and Breeders Association (www.reindeer.ws) boasts no members in the Carolinas, their star representatives for Santa Claus’ main of mode of transportation for deliveries leave their hoof prints in popularity around the world after sunset every Christmas Eve.

Daryl Simon, owner of Crystal Collection Reindeer, in Lake Crystal, Minn. – also on the association’s board of directors, with members nationwide and across Canada – shared some insight into these ungulates during a phone interview this past week. He said his herd numbers 43, “but we’ll have about 70 after we have calves in spring.”

Question | Besides the obvious traditions with “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” – first with the Max Fleischer cartoon short from the late 1940s, then the historic Rankin-Bass stop-motion “claymation” specials from the 1960s and ’70s – where else have reindeer played prominently on TV and in the movies, such as “Prancer,” from 1989?

Answer | It seems like almost every other year there’s a film with a reindeer in it. ... Sometimes, we end up naming our reindeer after them. ... You have the old movies, like “Miracle on 34th Street,” then there’s more recent ones ... such as Chet , from “The Santa Clause 2” – Ask any kid, who will know of him.

Q. | Just how close a relative is a reindeer to to the larger, caribou species of North America?

A. | We always call them one of the cousins of the three varieties of caribou on this continent. ... All of the reindeer on this continent are descendants of those brought over from Siberia more than a thousand years ago. ... They’re in Finland and different parts of the world; they’re not native to this continent.

Q. | Reindeer – like elk and other deer – grow antlers every year, but the process is part of life in both genders in reindeer. Why do bucks, in general, shed theirs earlier than cows?

A. | There are so many theories about that. ... It’s probably regulated by the length of daylight and heat. If it’s too hot during the rutting season, the temperature might have something to do with that. This year, we’re ... about 20-30 degrees above normal, and we have a cow who has lost both antlers, and some with one, and some who haven’t lost any. ... In 23 years of raising reindeer, . we’ve seen maybe 8-10 cows that still have their antlers when they had their calves, and then if anybody touches them, they would just fall off; they’re definitely not for protection at that point.

Q. | How painless is that Mother Nature’s routine of reindeer dropping their antlers?

A. | When that antler is ready to come off, and it drops off, it’s just real dry. The blood flow already is stopped, and where the antler was growing, it’s completely dry; sometimes there’s kinds of a liquid discharge in a pocket. I can’t imagine they feel anything. I’ve seen reindeer lying down, and they just get up and the antler falls off.

Q. | What other importance applies to antlers in the everyday lives of reindeer?

A. | Reindeer are actively aware of them. If one loses just one antler, the rest of them pick up on it. ... Antlers are really important to reindeer. I even showed a man when we had a reindeer display last weekend in Kansas City. We had two bulls, 8 months old, ... and we take a mature set of antlers for people to touch. I said, “Watch what this little guy does.” I picked up one of the antlers, held it up by the top of my head, and both of them looked and zeroed in on that. ... They don’t realize at first that it’s me.; all they see are are those antlers. That focus on antlers is true with white-tail deer or moose, or any species with them.

Q. | Although no ROBA members live in North or South Carolina, are there clusters of reindeer keepers across our country, maybe more in temperate climates?

A. | They’re all over the place, but there are more in the northern states.

Q. | What other special traits and antics of reindeer make you smile with such pets?

A. | They can be really curious. ...You have to be really careful that you don’t leaven any piece of equipment or a tool laying around, because ... they pick up stuff and run off with it. ... The way our farm is set, we babyproof everything. If there’s an opening in a gate or a something unlatched hinge that they can get their head into, they’re curious. ... They’re like a goat in that way. ...

They also like to be on high banks. If we dump a pile of gravel, ... they just play on top of that pile.

Q. | Is this roster breakdown correct for Santa’s sleigh? Dasher, Comet, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph are male, and Dancer, Prancer, Vixen and Cupid are female?

A. | Well, it depends who you ask; there are plenty of people who say they’re all female; that gets back to when the bucks and cows each shed their antlers, but I’ll go along with that lineup.

This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Reindeer command share of Christmas Eve stage."