The first written account of Santa Claus having reindeer was in 1821, and since then most people have assumed the reindeer were male 91裸聊视频� but a scientist says those people would be wrong.
Andrew Hebda, a zoologist at the Nova Scotia Museum, says while both male and female reindeer have antlers, only the females have their antlers during the winter months.
91裸聊视频淏eing members of the deer family, the males grow their antlers a little bit earlier and just after mating season, which is just about finished now, they drop off. So over a winter you91裸聊视频檒l never see a male with antlers,91裸聊视频� Hebda said.
Pregnant females use their antlers to dig through the snow in search for food, and lose them just before giving birth, he said.
It91裸聊视频檚 most likely, he said, that Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen are all female.
91裸聊视频淎ny reindeer right now with antlers is a girl,91裸聊视频� he said.
New focus has been placed on their gender in part because of a New York City Twitter user91裸聊视频檚 assertion this month they are 91裸聊视频渁 team of strong, powerful, underrated women.91裸聊视频�
The tweet, relying entirely on the antler theory of gender, proved very popular 91裸聊视频� it has garnered more than 680,000 likes and more than 200,000 retweets.
MALE REINDEER LOSE THEIR ANTLERS IN WINTER AND FEMALES DON'T THEREFORE SANTA'S SLEIGH IS ACTUALLY PULLED BY A TEAM OF STRONG, POWERFUL, UNDERRATED WOMEN!!!!! YOU GO, GIRLS!! I SEE YOU!!!
91裸聊视频� Cat Reynolds (@catreynoldsnyc)
A Chicago Zoological Society blog post echoes the contention that the antlers tell the tale.
91裸聊视频淭his isn91裸聊视频檛 to say Santa only had female reindeer, but the nine flyers were girls,91裸聊视频� it said.
91裸聊视频淟et91裸聊视频檚 be honest, unlike Santa, reindeer don91裸聊视频檛 live forever, so Santa needs both male and female reindeer, no? Because boy reindeer don91裸聊视频檛 give birth to future generations of magical flying reindeer.91裸聊视频�
Hebda says there91裸聊视频檚 another option 91裸聊视频� castrated male reindeer don91裸聊视频檛 lose their antlers.
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91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 always a possibility. It91裸聊视频檚 a question of whether Santa has followed a code of practice for proper raising of animals in castration is perhaps up in the air at the moment, but that91裸聊视频檚 a possibility,91裸聊视频� Hebda said.
Hebda said European reindeer are cousins of the North American caribou. There have been some introductions of reindeer into North America 91裸聊视频� most recently into Newfoundland, he said.
While Hebda can talk about reindeer gender, he91裸聊视频檚 not prepared to explain how they fly.
And while many children leave milk and cookies out for Santa on Christmas Eve, Hebda said that91裸聊视频檚 not a good choice for the reindeer.
And he said carrots may also be too rich of a treat to leave out for Santa91裸聊视频檚 reindeer. He suggests lichens, leafy greens and dried mushrooms instead.
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