TTStoryTime! #10: Why Santa Claus chose Reindeers to fly all over the world?

Hi!! My name is Rudolph and I am a reindeer. You probably know about me because of my nose (it's red and glows). I am honored to be here with Timetravels to tell you some cool stories about my herd.

Hopefully, after today, you will get more ideas about our species than just my red nose! 🦌 ^_^

Okay, let’s begin with an interesting fact…

#1 There are more of us than hoomans in Lapland!

Do you know, that my beautiful hometown - Lapland is the size of Portugal but only has about 180,000 people there? Whereas, there are around 200 000 of us! Yes. I am not exaggerating when saying we proudly outnumber hoomans. Since there are so less hoomans on our land, we sometimes enjoy the thrill when crossing the highway and surprising them.

Okay, maybe we did overly surprise our hoomans.
Sign's meaning: Big crash risk. Oops.

#2 Most of us are Taurus or Gemini!

If you are a fan of horoscopes, you might have guessed correctly what months most of us are born. Bingo! 100 points for you, it’s May or early June. While the Nordics prepare for celebrating Nightless Night by taking quick dips in chilly lakes or grabbing some ice cream under the sun, we celebrate our birthdays.

Finnish hoomans have sisu spirits, and so do we. The baby reindeer could usually stand and move within a few hours of birth. We are especially proud of our nutritious mother’s milk, which is the best of all mammals with 22% of fat and 10% protein. Now you see how we grow incredibly fast. 

Interestingly, we are authentic “vegan” species. Within one week after being born, all we could think of is leafy greens and mushrooms. Conveniently, summer is the time for us to eat 2-3 times greens more than in winter, and also mushrooms in the autumn. Need to enjoy the party before it’s over! 

But then you might wonder, how about winter? Luckily, our herders have foreseen the circumstances and prepared lots of dried grass for us, when glistening snow blankets our land. 

#3 Would you like someone to know how much money you have?

We are not wild animals, but usually, be taken care in a farm and have been friends with hoomans for a few thousand years already! Most of our owners are Sámi people - the indigenous ethnicity of the northernmost parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway, and partly Russia.

There are many people who visited our farm and ask my owner how many reindeer she has. I could tell in her eyes that she was not really happy to receive such a question. If you visit a reindeer farm, asking owners the numbers of reindeer is like asking how much money they have in their bank account! So no no no! 

#4 We are literally… everywhere in Lapland

Everyone knows about the Official Hometown of Santa Claus in Lapland, but not many know about the town's design. If you rotate the central Rovaniemi map 90°, you will find a reindeer’s head, with the stadium as the eye. The streets on the north, west, and south form the antlers. It was all thanks to Finnish architect Alvar Aalto!

Credit: Visit Lapland

When I said everywhere, I meant it. From the airport to the main street - Rovakatu - humans light up our antler-shape lights. Also, there are at least three streets where our name was called: Porokatu, Poropolku (Reindeer street), and Poromiehentie (Reindeer herder street).

#5 Why would Santa choose us, but not our fellow Cows, Horses, or Huskies,...?

Separating us from Mr. Claus is like taking painted eggs away from the Easter Bunny, or candy away from Halloween. But did you ever wonder why he chose only our species for his noble mission?

A story has been told from our ancients, that it took Santa many years to discover the secret magical recipe for a world tour, and more importantly, the search for the right "employee" to pull his sleigh. Only the Elves know the first part, but they suddenly become grumpy when we ask such questions, so I would just move to the second one.

Ready to fly!

First of all, needless to mention about our long, thick coat of fur but I’ll just say it anyway. Hee-hee! Yes, we are born with a special fur and fat that keeps us warm to thrive in temperatures as low as -50°C! Whereas my friends, Cows, and Horses need barns to stay warm. You could not find many of them at the North Pole to train for this harsh delivery job.

Another reason is that they are a bit too… oversize for the job (please don’t tell them I said that). Let’s say either they could easily weigh over half a ton or could be around 1.5 meters tall at the shoulder. We are much lighter and shorter than them. Most of our reindeer friends weigh between 135-180 kg and are only approx 1.1 meters tall. 

Compared to horses, we have pretty sturdy hooves which could help us easily fly around the world and land firmly on the roof without making too much noise. Well, should not wake the kids up right? 

On the other hand, my horse fellows would need shoes, which need to be a special type that keeps the snow from filling in. Neither Santa nor Elves have time to get snowballs out of horses’ feet on Christmas Eve. They are already overcommitted to getting the toys done for the next season.

And by the way, we are the only mammals that can see ultraviolet light. Thanks to that, our vision is better to navigate when delivering presents on dark Christmas Eve.

What about our energetic Husky friends? Aren’t they also good matches?

They were definitely speedy on the snow, but too bad, they failed the flying test. :(

Why? 

They just got so excited by flying that it was nearly impossible to bring them down. (-.-')

#6 It’s not a secret anymore, my true gender is…

Do you know that of the 43 various species of deer on Earth, we, the Reindeer, are the only species that feature both male and female with antlers?

Our male friends drop their antlers in November, leaving them without antlers until the following spring. While the females keep their antlers through the winter until their calves are born in May. 

The Santa sled team, all possess mighty antlers.

Now, did you find out about my true gender? :)

Ending

Thank you, Rudolph, for the eye-opening stories!

Wanna meet Rudolph and HER friends? Feel free to find the inspiration here.