Reindeer. Facts, questions and answers about reindeer and the history of Rudolph, good for quiz info.

Here are some interesting questions about reindeer for the answers to them scroll down the page.

• What do reindeer eat?
• How can reindeer run on ice and snow without falling over?
• How do reindeer find food in the snow?
• Do male and female reindeer grow antlers?
• How old are reindeer when the start to grow antlers?
• How do reindeer keep warm?
• What is special about reindeer fur?
• How do reindeer get food when snow and ice is on the ground.

Now for a few questions and also the answers about the most famous reindeer Rudolph.

These would make good quiz questions

or any of the questions her might help answer the questions children ask.

• Can reindeer really fly? answer: Only Rudolph and his friends.
• What are the names of the other reindeer who pull Santa's sleigh?
• Who invented the story of Rudolph?
• When was the story of Rudolph fist shown on American TV?
• Who wrote the Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer song?
• Why is Rudolph the reindeer the odd one out?

The answer to these questions is in the text on this page but if you just want to read the answers they are at the foot of the page.

There is something magical about reindeer, even if they were not associated with Christmas time they are awe inspiring animals.

The reindeer is an animal that in some ways is perfectly suited to its environment, more about the amazing qualities of a reindeer's fur later.

Reindeer are one of the oldest domesticated species in the world.

Reindeer's feet, hooves, are extremely good at coping with the cold weather.

Reindeer are have been domesticated and the herds managed by man for these reasons:

Reindeer have provided people with these things for a long time:

• reindeer meat is used for food,
• hides are used for clothing and shelter,
• the bone is used for weapons and tools.

This has been so for as long as people have lived in remote northern lands.

Reindeer herds.

Reindeer can maintain their body temperature in severe cold their fur is very special, here are some of the qualities of it:

Reindeer hair is very dense, the outer coat of guard hairs which are long, hollow hairs are packed together to a density of 5,000 hairs per square inch. When a reindeer swims the hollow guard hair helps to provide buoyancy, aiding their ability to swim.

They also have a fine "wooly" hair at 13,000 hairs per square inch as its undercoat which forms an efficient air trap.

The thick coat of the reindeer allows them to lay on snow without melting it which saves them from getting wet.

A reindeer has facial hair which protects the muzzle when grazing in the snow.

In summer time they will shed the guard hair which exposes their dark soft undercoat.

To help them walk on snow reindeer have hooves which are divided in half which form an almost complete circle. The reindeer's hooves also provide traction for when they are running on the snow.

Reindeer hooves:  

In the summer, the tundra is soft and damp, the footpads of the reindeer become more sponge-like which gives them traction.

In the winter, the pads shrink and tighten,  the rim of the hoof, then cuts into the ice and snow  to keep them from slipping.

They use their hooves to  dig down, through the snow to reach their  food, which is called reindeer moss.

Male and female reindeer have antlers; from the time they are a few days old until they die reindeer will grow antlers.

• What do reindeer eat?

Mostly a type of lichen known as Reindeer Moss.

• How can reindeer run on ice and snow without falling over?

Their hooves are specially adapted to the conditions and the edge of the hooves 'cut' into the surface of the ice, they have a type of cleat to provide traction.

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• How do reindeer find food in the snow?

Reindeer have special hooves and they can scrape away the snow to reach the food beneath its surface.

• Do male and female reindeer grow antlers?

Yes both grow antlers but they shed them at different times of the year.

• How old are reindeer when the start to grow antlers?

Reindeer start to grow antlers when they are a few days old and continue to produce them until they die.

• How do reindeer keep warm?

Reindeer have a special type of fur which is densley packed together with lots of hairs per square inch. They also have a layer of guard hairs in winter and another layer of hairs beneath that.

• What is special about reindeer fur?

The reindeer has a very dense fur.

• How do reindeer get food when snow and ice is on the ground?

They scrape away the snow with their hooves to reach food.

Reindeer have been have herded because they are raised for meat, hides, antlers and also used for transport.

Reindeer are not considered domestic animals because they roam free on their pasture.

Reindeer herders traditionally migrate with their herds following an annual migration route.

Some of the native people that herd reindeer are the Saami, Nenets, Khants, Evenks,Yukaghirs, Chukchi, and Koryaks.

How are Reindeer and Caribou different?

• Both reindeer and caribou migrate and cope with the extremely cold weather well as they both have specialized coats and hooves.

• Both reindeer and Caribou are the same species.

• Caribou are bigger than reindeer .

• Caribou live in North America.

• Reindeer live in Scandinavia and Russia.

Though he was created earlier, Rudolph made his television debut in 1964, and become a Christmas classic. A Canadian actress Billie Mae Richards was the voice of Rudolph also featured were the voices of Burl Ives and Canadian actor Paul Soles.

Robert L. May first created Rudolph in a bed time story for his young daughter Barbara.

In 1939 Rudolph was the story used by  the retailer Montgomery Ward, who had been buying and giving away coloring books at Christmas time in past years.

Montgomery ward distributed 2.4 million copies of Rudolph's story in the first year.

In the story of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer,

Santa Claus has these reindeer besides Rudolf to help deliver his presents:

• Blitzen
• Dasher
• Comet
• Cupid
• Donner
• Dancer
• Prancer and 
•  Vixen.  

The reindeer that pull Santa Claus's 's flying sleigh were first named in 1823 in the poem.

"A Visit from St Nicholas" in which they were named as

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem.

Dunder was later changed to Donder and became Donner which is the german word for thunder.

tBlixem was changed to Bliksem, then Blitzen the German word for lightning.

Good old Rudolph joined the group when he was added by Robert L. May in 1939 as the famous red nosed reindeer.

Robert May's poem was the original version of Rudolph and was followed by the song by his brother-in-law Johnny Marks.

The poem was written in the meter of another Christmas poem which was 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'.

Rudolph the Red–Nosed Reindeer the Christmas special was first shown in December 1964 in the USA.

Now for questions and answers about the most famous reindeer Rudolph.

These would make good quiz questions

• Can reindeer really fly?         answer: Only Rudolph and his friends.

• What are the names of the other reindeer who pull Santa's sleigh?
• Blitzen
• Dasher
• Comet
• Cupid
• Donner
• Dancer
• Prancer and
• Vixen.

• Who invented the story of Rudolph?

answer: Robert May.

• When was the story of Rudolph fist shown on American TV?

        answer: Rudolph was  shown on TV December 1964 in the USA.

• Who wrote the Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer song?

                      answer: Johnny Marks.

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• Why is Rudolph the reindeer the odd one out?

answer: Because Rudolph has a red nose, and because his creator knew what it was like to be the 'odd one out' and thus picked on.

The story of Rudolph the reindeer came from a story that May told his daughter Barbara.

It is said that the idea of Rudolph (being different and left out) came from his memories of his being picked on as a small boy for being a sickly child. others say it is similar to the tale of the  'Ugly Duckling' in its theme.

Quote: "While every so often they'd stop to call names

At one little deer not allowed in their games."

His daughter loved the story of Rudolph and Bob turned the idea into a home made book for the child for a Christmas gift.

When he shared the story with the workers at Montgomery Ward it was received enthusiastically.

Montgomery Ward bought the rights to the book. and millions of copies of it were given away to shoppers.

As the story was then wanted by publishing houses the company generously returned the rights to May, after four years Rudolph had turned around May's fortunes and from a struggling employee he became a millionaire.