Interesting Facts about Reindeer and Christmas

Reindeer are a wide-spread species that is found in North America and many other countries. It was originally found in Scandinavia, parts of Eastern Europe, Russia, Mongolia, and northern China. Some of the other places where you can find reindeer are Canada, Alaska, Ireland, Washington, Maine, Nevada, Tennessee, Spain, Norway, Finland, Siberia, and Greenland. The color of the reindeer differs individually as well as depending on the sub-species. Reindeer are also called as Caribou. The Peary Caribou which is found in parts of the North America are considered to be the whitest of its species and are the smallest of its kind. The Woodland Caribou on the other hand are dark in color and relatively the largest. It has two layers of fur on its body. The bottom layer is quite dense and woolly, while the overcoat is longer-haired consisting of hollow, air-filled hair.
One of the interesting facts discovered about the reindeer is that it is the only mammal that can see ultraviolet light. In fact this nature of the animal helps it survive in the arctic region because many objects in this landscape such as fur and urine produce ultraviolet radiations.



Reindeer are very closely associated with Christmas in the world today and are considered a symbol of Christmas. We would have seen in a lot of movies in which reindeer getting decorated for Christmas. Santa Claus is also closely associated with reindeer. Santa Claus' sleigh is led by nine reindeer namely Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolf, the Red Nosed Reindeer. The names Donner and Blitzen are derived from the German words that mean thunder and lightning.

Rudolf, the red nosed reindeer, is a very popular name, which is familiar even to a common man today. It is famous from the story of Rudolf, which was originally a verse written by Robert L. May for the Montgomery Ward. A book was also published in this name and given to the children for reading during Christmas. The story of Rudolf goes like this. Rudolf, the reindeer, had a gluey red nose which makes him different from other reindeer. One foggy night, Santa Claus who was on his way giving presents found it difficult to travel. He went to Rudolf's house where he saw a red light glowing from Rudolf's bedroom. Santa Claus thought it was a makeshift lamp to guide his sleigh. Later he found that it was Rudolf's reindeer that was actually glowing in his room. Therefore, Santa Claus asked Rudolf to lead his sleigh for the rest of the night and Rudolf was extremely happy after he helped Santa Claus. Today, this story has been told in various other ways. There are popular songs and movies that have come out on this name and are very closely associated with Santa Claus and Christmas.

There are a lot of legendary stories associated with Reindeer and Christmas. The mythical stories of Norse narrate the tale of Thor where the gods of thunder flew stormy nights in their chariots led by magical goats termed as Gnasher and Cracker. In Sweden, goats were also a Christmas symbol during the 18th century, the bearer being Santa Claus. Also, one fact is that there are a several movies that have been associated with reindeer. When I say this, it means that different movies feature the significance of the nine reindeers that Santa Claus had.