Explore the Arctic with GoNorth! - Free adventure learning for the K-12 Classroom at PolarHusky.com

Reindeer

			Type: Mammal
			Diet: Herbivore
			Average lifespan in the wild: 15 years
			Size: 4 to 5 ft 1.2 to 1.5 m) at the shoulder
			Weight: 240 to 700 lbs (109 to 318 kg)
			Group name: Herd
			Protection status: Endangered


			...Reindeer were alive during the ice age.
			... Reindeer have scent glands at the base of their ankles that are used when the animal is in danger. It will rear up on its hind legs to release a scent that alerts the other reindeer to the danger it is facing.
			...Reindeer are nomads that trot very long distances at a time - they often migrate up to 1,000 miles. It has the longest migrations of any land animal.
			... Reindeer are excellent swimmers!
			... Reindeer lay on snow without melting it or getting wet!
			... During the summer time an adult caribou can eat 12 pounds (5 kilograms) of food each day.
			... Reindeer have been domesticated for as long as 7,000 years. This is longer than horses have been domesticated.
			... Just a few days after birth, a calf can outrun an adult human and a calf can stand within minutes of being born
			...Each reindeer makes a unique call.
			...Sometimes in the spring, reindeer cows will eat eggs, placenta, rodents, and antler to maintain a healthy nutritional balance.
			...During the winter, the reindeers' metabolic rate lowers or slows.

Reindeer do not have red noses (except for Rudolf) but they are pretty amazing animals perfectly fitted to live in the cold climate of the Arctic region.

Round bodies and long legs.. The reindeer body is short, stocky to conserve heat, but the legs are long to help it move through the deep snow!
Eating what's there - filling up and staying warm Most animals don't eat moss because it is hard to digest. But reindeer fill up with lots of lichen and moss. First of all, that is what there is lots of on the tundra and in the old growth boreal forest hanging on the tress easy to get too. Besides, the moss contains a special chemical that helps reindeer keep their body fluids warm. When the reindeer make their yearly journey across the icy Arctic lands, the chemical keeps them from freezing-much as antifreeze keeps a car from freezing up in winter!

Hoofs like a spade... or a paddle! Reindeer have large, concave hoofs that spread widely and splay much like a spade. This is good for walking in snow and soft tundra. It is also works like great paddles, which is a very important tool in being great swimmers! But the underside of the hoof is concave - hollowed out like a scoop perfect for digging through snow to get down to the ground where the lichen and moss grow that they need to eat. Last, at the underside of a reindeer's hoof hairs extend down and across the pad. These hairs enable the reindeer to better control the movement of its feet, for example, to prevent slipping on slippery ice.

Hairs like straw! Just like a Polar Husky reindeer have two layers of coat and the hairs in the outer layer are hollow with air inside. Think of a straw and you get the idea! The inner layer is woolly and fine trapping air against its body for warmth. The outer hair is long and hollow with air. Air is the best insulator of heat and it creates buoyancy (like swim wings with air inside of them) for swimming.

Poor eyesight - but excellent sense of smell! It is often difficult to see much on a really windy day as the snow is being blown around on the tundra. But when it is windy like that, as long as you are with the wind so it can carry smells of anything out there to you, you are on top of what is going on! That is exactly what reindeer do. When they see a team of Polar Huskies coming at they most often wander curiously towards the teams unable to see clearly what it is! But as soon as they get the whiff of the dogs and people with the wind they scent the danger and take off running in the opposite direction at a fast gait on their long legs.

Click-Click... Follow the sound! Imagine trying to stay with the herd in a major snow storm, in the dark on when it so foggy across the tundra that nothing can be seen. If you listen carefully you can hear a clicking sound when reindeer walk. This is not the hooves knocking against each other, it is a tendon insertion in the rear leg that slides over a bone and generates the clicking sound. It is believed it helps the reindeer herd stay together. The reindeer is a herd animal after all, and if a reindeer is frightened and starts to move, the other animals in the herd can hear the increase in the frequency of the clicks.