Reindeer secrets...

As one very special team of reindeer get set for their big Christmas journey, here are some surprising facts about Santa’s red-nosed helpers

❆ Carrots are gratefully received

If you’re in the habit of leaving out a mince pie for Father Christmas and a carrot for his reindeer, you’re doing the right thing as reindeer love vegetables! All strict vegetarians, in the wild their diet includes ferns, moss, grass, fungi and leaves and in the winter, reindeer dig through the snow to find reindeer moss.

❆ Amazingly adapted for the wild

One of the most interesting features of the reindeer is its hooves, which expand in the summer to grip the ground and shrink in the winter to act like snowshoes so it can walk across the icy landscape. Reindeer hooves also make excellent paddles for swimming – which you may be surprised to discover they do a lot of. They also have incredible eyesight. Scientists recently discovered they are the only mammals that can see ultraviolet light, meaning they can easily see things such as white fur against the backdrop of the Arctic (we’d find that impossible to spot with our eyes). And at Christmas their eyes change colour, turning from golden in summer to deep blue in winter to adapt to the changing light.

❆ They were re-introduced in the UK by a Swede

Reindeer were once plentiful in the UK until the Vikings hunted them to extinction about 800 years ago. The fact that they’re now back is thanks to a Swedish man called Mikel Utsi who re-introduced a wild herd into

Scotland in 1952 to show they could live and breed here. The group has grown in numbers and today, if you’re lucky, you can spot the spectacular sight of around 150 reindeer grazing freely in the Cairngorm Mountains (to find out more call 01479861228 or visit www. cairngormreindeer.co.uk). ❆ The link with Christmas began across the pond...

Reindeer first became associated with Christmas back in 1823 when American Clement Clarke Moore wrote a poem called ‘A Visit from St Nicholas’, in which reindeer pulled Santa’s sleigh. It was Robert L May who made up the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1939, written as a poem to give out to children at a chain of department stores. May’s brother-in-law Jonny Marks adapted his poem into a song which became a No.1. hit in 1949.