How many of Santa’s reindeer can you name? Here are the names of Santa’s reindeer, funny reindeer pictures and stories – including the reindeer that frightened a school.
How many of Santa’s reindeer can you name? 8, 9, or 10?
Did you know that ‘Rein’ is a the Scandinavian for the beast (Rangifer tarandus), and nothing to do with Santa’s bridle.
The Names of Santa’s Reindeers
In addition to Rudolph, Santa has eight more reindeer who haul the sleigh the other names of Santa’s reindeer are: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner (Dunder) and Blitzen (Blixhem). The Christmas Reindeers’ names can be traced to ‘A Visit From St. Nicholas’ by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822.
In recent years there have been attempts to introduce new names for Santa’s Reindeer, however, Olive and Fireball have not really caught children’s imagination in the way that they love the rhythm of the names, Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, with Donner and Blitzen bringing up the rear.
What is the Name of Santa’s 10th Reindeer?
Joker did not keep his job very long. Wrong name, wrong place.
Christmas Reindeer Story
According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female deer (Rangifer tarandus) grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December.
Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa’s reindeer, EVERY single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl.
We should have known… ONLY women would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost. Above and to the right is our favourite reindeer picture.
Are The Days Numbered for Santa’s Reindeer?
The Good Old Days – Christmas Reindeer Doing Their Job
The above pair of deer seem more Bambi than reindeer, however this funny reindeer picture captures the magic of Christmas.
Santa’s Reindeer Not Up To Pulling Sleigh
Born to Sleigh!
What do reindeer always say before telling you a joke?
This one will ‘sleigh’ you!
The Answer to Santa’s Prayers
Drunken Reindeer Frightens School Pupils
Pupils at a school in Sweden are being terrorised by a drunken deer (Rangifer tarandus). Police say the animal has probably been eating fermented apples in a garden, reports Sky News.
Jan Caiman, a police officer in Molndal, said, ‘That could be the problem. We could be dealing with a boozy Reindeer’. Reindeer can weigh as much as 1,100 lb and personnel at the school described the erratic male as ‘completely mad’. The receptionist at the school, near Molndal, in the south of the country, told the Gothenburg Post, ‘The children are really scared’. Police have contacted hunters and said that if the animal does not sober up and calm down, it could be shot.
AddendumJuho Kyntäjä from Finland points out the deer in this otherwise true story are not reindeer but elk. Reindeer being smaller than the size reported here, and more importantly, reindeer don’t venture this far south.
We know some places where they call these beasts
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
A Russian couple were strolling down the street in Moscow, when the husband felt a drop hit his nose. ‘I think it’s starting to rain,’ he said to his wife.
‘I don’t think so, it felt more like snow to me,’ she replied.
‘No, I’m sure it was just rain, he said.’ Well, as these things go, they were about to have a major argument about whether it was raining or snowing. Just then they saw a minor communist party official walking toward them. ‘Let’s not fight about it,’ the man said, ‘let’s ask Comrade Rudolph whether it’s officially raining or snowing.’
As the official approached, the husband stopped him and asked, ‘Tell us, Comrade Rudolph, is it officially raining or snowing?’
‘It’s raining, of course,’ he answered and walked on. But the woman insisted: ‘I know that felt like snow!’ To which the man quietly replied: ‘Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear!’
Please send us your funny Christmas reindeer pictures.
White Christmas Reindeer Pictures
Unlike Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, white reindeer really do exist in Lapland.
White Christmas Reindeer
- White Reindeer are just variation of brown reindeer, just as you get white cats, or white dogs.
- The key to true albino reindeer is the eyes; albinos have pink eyes, ‘ordinary’ white reindeer have brown eyes.
- Reindeer in North America are called caribou.
- They are the only deer in which both genders have antlers.
- Reindeer have broad, flat feet with deeply cleft hooves making it easier for them to walk in the snow.
- They are excellent swimmers and their ‘thermal’ coats act like lifejackets.
- Reindeer live predominantly in Northern Asia, Europe, Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. In Alaska and Canada, they particularly inhabit forests and the tundra.
- Reindeer live in the tundra in the summer and migrate in the autumn [fall] when they move south.
- The Reindeer’s thick coat is water-proof. Reindeer live in cold places because in warmer climates they will lose their coats.
- They eat grass, lichens and plants; they need to eat twelve pounds of food a day. If their plants are covered with snow they will shovel or dig with their hoofs.
- Reindeer’s enemies are wolves, coyotes and bear which might prey on the new born because they are weaker.
Reindeer may live for some 15 years. The main problem to their health is road traffic: in Finland, for example, more than 4,000 reindeer are run over each year by cars. - Laplanders keep reindeer as pets. They also use reindeer for milk, clothing and meat.
- Reindeer are gregarious animals and enjoy the company of the herd.
More Pictures of White Reindeer
Dreaming of a White Christmas?
Startled White Reindeer
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
A Russian couple were strolling down the street in Moscow, when the husband felt a drop hit his nose. ‘I think it’s starting to rain,’ he said to his wife.
‘I don’t think so, it felt more like snow to me,’ she replied.
‘No, I’m sure it was just rain, he said.’ Well, as these things go, they were about to have a major argument about whether it was raining or snowing. Just then they saw a minor communist party official walking toward them. ‘Let’s not fight about it,’ the man said, ‘let’s ask Comrade Rudolph whether it’s officially raining or snowing.’
As the official approached, the husband stopped him and asked, ‘Tell us, Comrade Rudolph, is it officially raining or snowing?’
‘It’s raining, of course,’ he answered and walked on. But the woman insisted: ‘I know that felt like snow!’ To which the man quietly replied: ‘Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear!’
Brown Reindeer with White Coats
Brown Reindeer With White Beards!
Please send us your pictures of white reindeer.
