That Santa’s reindeer are most likely female? Mature male reindeer lose their antlers in November and December after the mating season. Females keep their antlers until after they have given birth in the spring.
I found this information in the book Reindeer by Emery and Durga Bernhard.
Reindeer are one of seven subspecies of caribou. Caribou and reindeer are the only members of the deer family in which both males and females grow antlers. Young males also keep their antlers until spring, so Santa may have his sleigh pulled by young males instead of females…..
The Encyclopedia of Deer by Dr. Leonard Lee Rue III has some magnificent pictures of all sorts of deer, elk, moose and detailed information about their habitats.
It just wouldn’t be the holidays without the story of Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer! We have the legend in both book and DVD. Be sure to get a recording of the song. The whole family can sing along. There are MANY artists that have recorded it.
And finally in the book Encyclopedia of Christmas we learn that Clement C. Moore wrote the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, which is where Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen got their names. There are answers to everything you could ever wonder about Christmas in this book!
