Merry ChristmasThis has been going around the internet recently:

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year (the only members of the deer family, Cervidae, to have females do so). Male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer retain their antlers until 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 that when they were able to find their way.

As anyone who saw the TV program, “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” knows, this simply can’t be true, although the show does appear to have several inaccuracies including that female reindeer never grow antlers and that there is a lack of dentists at the North Pole.

Anyway, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Santa’s reindeer are not just your run-of-the-mill reindeer. They are, in fact, a whole separate species from Rangifer tarandus, the reindeer that run around in Alaska. They are the sub-species, Saintnicolas magicalus. The main difference between S. magicalus and R. tarandus, is that S. magicalus has developed the ability to fly, a trait not normally found in the family, Cervidae. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game tells us that as long as S. magicalus is supplied with frequent breaks for carrots, they can fly long distances in very short periods of time. In addition both males and females of S. magicalus retain their antlers all year round.