10 Reindeer Fun Facts to Let You Impress Your Children at Christmas

Before they get hired by Santa Claus for annual Christmas gift delivery services, let's find out how much we actually know about these animals.

Some of the facts can be a little bit surprising.

While migrating, reindeer travel 19 – 64 kilometers per day, reaching a top speed of up to 80 kilometers per hour. They are also good swimmers, moving in water at up to 10 km/ hour.

Reindeer caught in Finland get their antlers painted with reflective paint. This is to reduce the number of road incidents involving these animals.

Males and females change the antlers in different months. Males do it in December while females do that in June. Consequently, Santa Claus prefers only females who look much better in the winter.

As their noses can be really red, the name Rudolf the Red Nosed has got some solid scientific grounds. Not only have their noses got a vast blood circulation system, but the nose cavities are also huge so that the frosty air can be warmed up before it reaches their lungs. The blood vessels can be so expanded at times, that indeed you get an impression that their noses are red.

In the summer their eyes are golden while in the winter they turn blue. It all depends on the amount of ambient light. Reindeers see things in ultraviolet.

In Finland reindeer meat is a common pizza ingredient

The animals inspired a completely new unit of distance, called 'poronkusema'. It is the equivalent of 7.5 kilometers, which is the distance after which a reindeer has to stop to urinate, as they can't do it 'on the go'.

A female reindeer called Maya was employed by the Finnish police. Unfortunately, it died in a car accident in 2011.

Reindeer are really sociable creatures. They eat, travel and rest in herds, which can consists of 10 up to several hundred animals. In the spring they can be even bigger, having from 50,000 to even 500,000 reindeer.

Don't forget that Santa Claus has got 8 reindeer.