Columnist Paula DelGiudice: Reindeer: Myth versus reality

Paula DelGiudice

Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001 | 10:20 a.m.

Paula DelGiudice's outdoors notebook appears weekly. Reach her at desertdenizens@aol.com.

One of the most notable wildlife species associated with Christmas is the reindeer (more commonly known as the caribou). It is the subject of legend and song, and has been ascribed with unusual characteristics -- among them the ability to fly.

Though the reindeer might not be able to do all the things it has been credited with, it is an interesting animal nonetheless.

Of course, only those with highly evolved imaginations believe reindeer can fly. They can, however, run fast. Especially active in the morning and evening, the caribou can run at speeds of nearly 50 mph.

The caribou is also a good swimmer due to some unusual adaptations. Nearly a third of its body is above the water when it swims due to the air-filled hollow hairs of its coat. This makes it ideal for pulling Santa's sleigh -- in case he has to ditch it over the ocean.

If someone were to design the best all-around, all-terrain shoe, he or she would replicate the characteristics of a caribou's footpads. In the summer, when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become spongy like the soles of tennis shoes and provide extra traction. In the winter, when snow and ice are the norm, the pads shrink and firm up, while the rim of the hoof like an ice skate blade, bites into the ice and crusted snow to keep the animal from slipping.

The pictures you see of Santa and his reindeer show them with big antlers; however, male reindeer drop their antlers late in the fall after the rutting period, while the pregnant cows carry their antlers through the winter, losing them about the time the calves arrive in the spring. Imagine that: Santa making pregnant reindeer pull his sled full of toys around the world in one night.

In the Christmas carol lyrics, "Up on the rooftop, click, click, click ... Down through the chimney, Ol' Saint Nick," ever wonder what the "click, click, click" is all about? Reindeer have a tendon that slips over a bone in the foot, causing an audible clicking sound when they walk. This may be the only thing written about reindeer in a song that is actually true.

While it has nothing to do with Santa and his labor practices, the Woodland caribou, a subspecies of caribou, is on the endangered species list. It is endangered in Idaho and Washington. Woodland caribou once ranged across much of the northern U.S. Today, only one small herd remains south of Canada, in the Selkirk Mountains of northeastern Washington and northern Idaho.

Traditionally hunters have been required to mail in a card to report their harvest or lack of harvest for the big game tag they drew. Now, all hunter return cards must be received, either electronically or by U.S. mail, by Jan. 31, 2002.