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Wildlife experts ponder gender of Santa's reindeer

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SeizeTheDay
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23 Dec 2008, 3:31 pm

Who would really wonder about things like this?

These reindeer have some very manly names though... 8O


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Xelebes
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23 Dec 2008, 4:57 pm

LKL wrote:
afaIk reindeer are the only semi-domestic species of antlered animal, so the odds are certainly with the sleigh-pullers being reindeer. It is *possible* that the sleigh is pulled by moose, just not very likely. Moose have a reputation of being rather moody.


Caribou and elk are partly domesticated. Elk in Alberta and caribou in Alaska.



notbrianna
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23 Dec 2008, 5:11 pm

Don't they (the scientists) have anything better to speculate on?



LKL
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23 Dec 2008, 9:20 pm

Even scientists do some things just for fun.



Michael_Stuart
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24 Dec 2008, 8:59 am

I'm not really clear on Rudolphian mythology, but wasn't Rudolph the son of Prancer and Vixen?

I might be wrong. In that case I can always pull the "Rudolph isn't official" card.

It is indeed true we don't know if they are reindeer. But what I've been pondering about: If Santa's Sled is fueled by "the Christmas spirit" as its often depicted, where do the reindeer come in? If the reindeer can utilize the Christmas spirit to flie, then we can assume one of two things:

1. They are special reindeer who can fly by using the Christmas spirit, in which case that's jolly good and all, but more importantly

2. They are ordinary reindeer/moose/caribou which utilize the Christmas spirit to fly, and in that case we may have found a groundbreaking new renewable, clean, and merry energy source.

There's always the third possibility that they are flying alien Reindeer, or they're from Hyperborea, but that seems less likely.



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24 Dec 2008, 10:59 am

They are from Hyperborea. Hyperborea means the far north.

From my computer's dictionary:

Quote:
hyperborean |?h?p?r?bôr??n; -b??r??n| poetic/literary noun an inhabitant of the extreme north. • ( Hyperborean) Greek Mythology a member of a race worshiping Apollo and living in a land of sunshine and plenty beyond the north wind. adjective of or relating to the extreme north. ORIGIN late Middle English : from late Latin hyperboreanus, from Greek huperboreos, from huper ‘beyond’ + boreas ‘north wind.’


I have to admit I'm finding the image of 8 tiny moose pulling Santa's sleigh rather fascinating to think about. It just seems so odd. If he were from North America, Santa's sleigh would be pulled by Huskies, though.



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24 Dec 2008, 11:44 am

Reindeer sex topic

I remember watching the Christmas classic "Rudolph" as a kid, and I did not notice any parts on any male deer (or for that matter, female parts). I just assumed they were neutered, like my pet dog (at the time), though how did they procreate?

Magic, I guess. :P


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25 Dec 2008, 3:02 am

I'll never look at Rudolph the same way again.

Santa was a shaman of the Sami, a reindeer-herding people of the far North.

http://www.christmaspast.info/stories/r ... genic.html

Quote:
"Reindeer were the sacred animals of these semi-nomadic people, as the reindeer provided food, shelter, clothing and other necessities. Reindeer are also fond of eating the amanita mushrooms; they will seek them out, and then prance about while under their influence ... The effects of the amanita mushroom usually include sensations of size distortion and flying. The feeling of flying could account for the legends of flying reindeer, and legends of shamanic journeys included stories of winged reindeer, transporting their riders up to the highest branches of the World Tree." -Dana Larsen, "The Psychedelic Secrets of Santa Claus" Cannabis Culture, Marijuana Magazine, Dec 18th, 2003

"The flying reindeer, sleigh, and the entire Santa Claus mythology originates from Siberia where Saint Nicholas, the patron Saint of children, is a supplanter to the indigenous Shamans. "Saint Nicholas, known as the ‘Patron Saint of Children,' is the most revered saint in Russia, second only to the apostles. He is the Russian Orthodox Church's supplanter to the native people's highly respected local Shaman. A Shaman is a holy man that is well acquainted with a form of spirituality that incorporates plant entheogens which facilitate the NDE (Near Death Experience), or ‘out of body' experience. Saint Nicholas may not have been a shaman, yet the symbolism on, and coloring of his robes could lend to speculation." -James Arthur, "Mushrooms and Mankind" (10)


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