Re: Reindeer

[Guest guest]

Hey Sondra,

If you have any more questions about Reindeer, I would

be happy to answer them. I am originally from Alaska

and I lived their for 19 years. My dad always had

interesting businesses and ideas and one year when I

was about 13, my dad decided to buy Reindeer and have

a place where tourists could come visit and see the

reindeer and feed them and such so that when they came

to Alaska they could experience the things they

imagined it to be like (as alaska is very different

from the way people imagine it to be). So we had

reindeer from the time I was 13 till I was 17 and they

had babies and we had lots of them about 16 total. I

trained them to pull a sleigh and at christmas we

would take them to the town called North Pole and we

would have someone dress up like Santa and ride in the

sleigh with the reindeer and then people could pay to

take turns being pulled by reindeer in the sleigh with

santa. It was kinda fun, but very dangerous actually,

because while reindeer do not actually fly, they can

run as fast as 45 miles per hour and they can leap

over fences that are 8 foot tall. They did it many

times and got away out of our yard we had fenced in

for them.

But anyhow, if you have any more questions about

reindeer, I would be happy to answer them. And yes,

the reindeer with antlers during the winter time, are

females. The males have much larger antlers than the

females but they loose there antlers right after

mating season and then the females keep theirs until

the spring - after they have their babies. The reason

that this happens is because the females need to get

enough food to support themselves and their baby they

are pregnant with, and the male reindeer are rude and

they would steal all the food, but when the females

kept their antlers and the males lost theirs then the

females would use their antlers to poke and fend off

the males and then they could get food.

Reindeer also do have the hollow fur that Anastasia

was mentioning and it helps them to swim. We lived

right on the Tanana River when I was growing up and

the Tanana river is almost as big as the Yukon River

(just to let you know that is one of the largest and

widest across rivers in the world). Anyhow, on day one

of our reindeers jumped over the fence ran down the

hill and jumped into the river. We thought for sure

that she would drown. She just swam right across with

the strong currents and all and basically the only

part of her that was even in the river was her legs,

the rest of her was floating. We thought once she had

gotten to the other side off in the middle of the

wilderness that she would run away with the Caribou

(Reindeer and Caribou are the same thing, except when

they are pets they are called reindeer, when they are

wild they are called caribou). However, Crystal (our

reindeer) was gone about 20 minutes off in the bushes

where we couldn't see her and then she turned around

and jumped right back into the river and swam back

across. So that hollow fur not only keeps them light

and able to float, but it also keeps them very warm.

They stayed outside even in -80*F. We could barely go

outside all bundled up to feed them, and yet they

would just be fine. In the winter though we did not

have to give them water, because Reindeer drink snow.

And it is a good thing because at that cold of

temperatures even the inside of your nose freezes and

so any water we could have given them would have been

frozen.

Also, as far as their fur goes, in the summer they

loose it all, because they would be too hot. Many

people have the common misconception that Alaska is

always cold, but I have lived there when it even

reached 104*F on the 4th of July one year. So it gets

too hot for them with all that fur and so they shed

all their fur and they turn a dark chocolaty color and

they feel like velvet.

Anyhow, enough about reindeer unless you have any

other questions (I don't want to bore you) but have

lots more info on them, so anything you could ever

want to know about reindeer, I can share.

Esther

--- sondra wrote:

> Anastasia, thanks ever so much for this as this is

> what I to heared

> of the santa too that he was of real and is not of

> imagined person

> but is of the magical person i to felt he was of to

> be. now because

> he is of gone parents are suppose to buy of things

> for the kids and

> do the magic that parts is of what causes me an

> unsettled feeling as

> it isof hard for me to pretend out things that are

> outside of own

> self but can do this gift giving and wrapping. I to

> not wrap good

> though but I to try.

>

> the information of the reindeer is of greatinterest

> too as I to often

> wondered if they were of males and now understand

> they maybe we of

> females LOL as the one shirts says woman have great

> power just let us

> to lead or somethings of this...... so maybe that is

> why santa chose

> of females to lead.... LOL this is of playing to

> words here and not

> intended to degrade of males as I to have high

> respect for gender

> roles and men.

>

> today is of my birthday and so wilol be to take a

> lazy do what ever i

> to want day for self. I to locked self to my office,

> have ofmy

> stuffed elephant and blankies and pillow and tv and

> computer and

> games all here so not need anything outside of my

> room LOL. Well will

> want one things outside of my room later which is of

> my Delaney grand

> baby. she is of 8 months now.

> Sondra

>

> In Autism_in_Girls , " Anastasia E.

> OMelveny "

> wrote:

> >

> > Of course there is a Santa Claus. Santa Claus is

> St. . He

> was a

> > real guy and now he is real Saint. Millions of

> people are on a

> first name

> > basis with Saint . Ask any Russion or

> Greek Orthodox

> child. St.

> > is the protector of children.

> >

> > " , was born during the third century in

> the village of

> Patara. At

> > the time the area was Greek and is now on the

> southern coast of

> Turkey. His

> > wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout

> Christian, died in an

> > epidemic while was still young. Obeying

> Jesus' words

> to " sell what

> > you own and give the money to the poor, "

> used his whole

> inheritance

> > to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering.

> He dedicated his

> life to

> > serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while

> still a young man.

> Bishop

> > became known throughout the land for his

> generosity to the

> those in

> > need, his love for children, and his concern for

> sailors and ships. "

> >

> > Many legends and stories can be found on the

> interent about St.

> , as

> > well as information about celebrations and

> gift-giving traditions

> that have

> > been celebrated for over a thousand years.

> >

> > Why not look some up and share the stories with

> the kids.

> >

> > AS TO THE REINDEER, HERE'S WHAT THE NATIONAL

> WILDLIFE FEDERATION

> HAS TO SAY:

> > Questions and Antlers

> > We've seen the pictures and we know that Santa's

> reindeer -- Dasher

> and

> > Dancer and Blitzen and the rest -- sport antlers.

> Does this mean

> that all of

> > them (even Vixen?) are males? Not exactly -- in

> fact, it almost

> means the

> > opposite. Reindeer and caribou are unique among

> deer in that the

> females

> > grow antlers, too. And even more interesting is

> the fact that the

> females

> > retain their antlers from one spring till the

> next, while mature

> males shed

> > their antlers in the fall -- and are unadorned on

> Christmas Eve. So

> the

> > creatures that pull Santa's sleigh must be females

> or youngsters.

> Of course,

> > it's entirely possible that a male reindeer with

> the power to fly

> also has

> > the power to keep his antlers through the

> holidays.

> > All-Terrain Feet

> > The all-terrain vehicle enables humans to traverse

> rough, muddy,

> snowy, or

> > icy terrain. The caribou or reindeer has it beat:

> it has an all-

> terrain

> > foot. The animal's remarkable hoof actually adapts

> itself to the

> season --

> > becoming a sort of ice skate in the winter and

> sneaker in spring.

> The

> > caribou of North America can run at speeds of

> almost 50 miles per

> hour and

> > may travel 3,000 miles in a year. Luckily, the

> animal is helped

> along by its

> > amazingly adaptable 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

> coat the North,

> the pads

> > shrink and firm up, while the rim of the hoof,

> like an ice skate's

> blade,

> > bites into the ice and crusted snow to keep the

> animal from

> slipping. Sounds

> > like the perfect footwear for an animal that needs

> to come to a

> flying stop

> > on an ice-encrusted rooftop in the dark of the

> night!

> > Fur Float

> > Given its geographic preferences, a reindeer has

> to have a pretty

> warm coat.

> > In fact, the coat has two layers of fur, a dense

> woolly undercoat

> and

> > longer-haired overcoat. The outer coat consists of

> hollow, air-

> filled hairs

> > that give the animal such buoyancy when it enters

> water that only

> the lower

> > two-thirds of its body submerges. A caribou or

> reindeer swims with

> ease and

> > good speed, and migrating herds will not hesitate

> to swim across a

> large

> > lake or broad river. If Santa ever decides to take

> to the seas

> rather than

> > the air, he is in good hands!

> >

> >

> > Merry Christmas everyone.

> >

> > Anastasia

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

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