We can understand how Saint Nicholas/Santa Claus came to represent the generous spirit of Christmas. He is a saint, after all. But the little town of Bethlehem isn’t particularly well known for its population of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) grazing about. So why did Santa choose that particular hoofed beast to pull his sleigh on Christmas Eve?

Could it be because this graceful animal, used as a beast of burden in the regions near the Arctic Circle, is the only deer species that has been widely domesticated? Or perhaps because Santa doesn’t want to share his Christmas cookies? After all, reindeer like to eat moss, herbs, ferns, grasses, shoots, and leaves. Their favorite food is lichen. Better not bake lichen cookies for Christmas, or you’ll have reindeer thundering down your chimney instead!

Kidding aside, there are many fun facts you can learn about reindeer. Here are just a few:

• An average adult reindeer eats 9 to 18 pounds of vegetation a day. They eat healthy, but they eat a lot!
• Did you know that reindeer and caribou are the same animal? Europeans call these sturdy beasts reindeer, while in North America we refer to the wild ones as caribou (but reindeer if they are domesticated).
• Unlike most deer species (in which only the males grow antlers), female reindeer sport antlers as well. Though their antlers are not as long, the females keep their antlers well past Christmas and through the winter, whereas most males lose theirs in late autumn or early winter.
• Nose to hooves, reindeer are covered with hair! Even their antlers have a covering of velvet while they grow. Hair and a host of tiny blood vessels in their noses warm the air as they breathe in. Their hooves adjust with the seasons, helping them traverse frozen and muddy terrain.
• Some reindeer have knees that make a clicking noise when they walk; this sound is thought to help them stay together in stormy weather with low visibility.
• Within hours of being born, reindeer calves can not only stand, they can run!
• Reindeer are strong swimmers.
• They can see ultraviolet light, which helps them spot food and predators in the dim Arctic light.
• Reindeer have a lifespan of about 15 years in the wild and up to 20 years if they are domesticated.
• Like Santa’s trusted troupe, reindeer like to live in herds—some numbering in the hundreds of thousands!

And just for fun, watch Aatu, a domesticated reindeer in Lapland, eat his dinner at the dining table, watch television, and go for walks with his owner.

Which brings us back to our original question…

Where Did Outdoor Christmas Reindeer Come From?

As usual, literary imagination is to blame. Santa’s reindeer first appeared in 1821 when William B. Gilley published a small booklet titled A New-Year’s Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve. It featured a poem, “Old Santeclaus with Much Delight,” by an anonymous writer, which begins:

Old Santeclaus with much delight
His reindeer drives this frosty night.
O’er chimneytops, and tracks of snow,
To bring his yearly gifts to you.

The poem, by the way, is notable for including the earliest known reference to Santa Claus traveling in a vehicle drawn by reindeer.

A couple of years later, the Troy Sentinel published a more famous poem, “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” better known as “The Night Before Christmas,” by Clement Clarke Moore. The merry poem christened the original eight flying reindeer, giving each one a memorable moniker—Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. The ninth and most beloved reindeer, Rudolph, joined the herd in 1939 when the Montgomery Ward department store asked one of its copywriters, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to create a Christmas story the store could give away to shoppers as a promotion.

While we mere mortals have successfully domesticated reindeer, we have yet to teach them how to fly. Until then, you can bring home one of our beautiful life-size outdoor reindeer or other animals, pick a name you like best, place them on your lawn or balcony, and let your imagination soar!