Is it true that Santa Claus' sleigh cannot be pulled by male reindeer?

It is believed that Santa Claus flies around the Earth at Christmas in a sleigh drawn by reindeer - proud, handsome animals with luxurious antlers. We decided to check if Santa's reindeer sleigh could look like this?

Image Santa wearing this harness is printed on thousands of Christmas cards, sweaters and decorations every year. In a Christmas poem "Visit St. Nicholas", very popular in Western countries, even lists the names and personalities of Santa's eight reindeer. In 1939, poet Robert L. May came up with the ninth reindeer - Rudolph, who later became the most famous of them. They even filmed a few in Hollywood cartoons about this deer.

Several years ago in Twitter There was a discussion about the fact that Santa's reindeer are most likely not reindeer, but doe. And this is not about the fashion for feminism. It just turns out that the reindeer that pulls Santa's sleigh can't look the way they are usually portrayed at Christmas.

Reindeer are the only representatives of this animal species in which not only the males, but also the females have luxurious antlers, the same ones that look so beautiful on Christmas cards. Doctor of Biological Sciences Leonid Kolpashchikov tellsthat the reason for this is the peculiarities of obtaining food. Having with difficulty cleared the snow from a feeding area, a deer, whether male or female, must be able to protect it from the encroachments of other individuals.  At the same time, both males and females shed their antlers every year. And the “molting” of males occurs precisely during the period after the rut, that is, in November-December. Their antlers begin to grow back only in March.

How told employees of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve (the only one in Kamchatka where a large herd of these animals has been preserved), this is due to the fact that in this way females have a better chance of protecting their cubs from adults and feeding them during the harshest winter period.

Thus, at the end of December, when Santa makes his trip around the world, only female reindeer and very young individuals have antlers. However, they also have “young” horns. In 2021, several reindeer calves were born at the Moscow Zoo - according to them appearance It’s clear that even in six months, by Christmas, they won’t look like they do on postcards with Santa.

American scientists at one time too connected to the discussion. Among them were those who supported the version with deer. However, Greg Finstead, director of the deer research program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, suggested another option - in addition to fawns and fawns, castrated deer also have antlers in winter. It is they, according to the researcher, who are harnessed to the sleigh. Firstly, they are much more obedient, and secondly, they are stronger than their more fortunate brothers, because they are exhausted after the rutting period, when they have to fight for the females. 

However, there is always another version. If Santa's reindeer manage to magically visit every house on the planet, why don't they magically keep their branchy antlers for another month longer and shed them after Christmas?

Legend

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that reindeer change eye color depending on the time of year?
2. Is it true that in Finland reindeer antlers are painted with reflective paint to reduce the number of accidents with them?