These inhabitants of the tundra and northern forests differ from their other brethren in the presence of horns, not only males, but also females.
The original habitat of these artiodactyl animals has left, excuse the pun, its mark on their hooves: they are very wide. Thanks to such hooves, the reindeer does not fall into the snow, which is more than enough in the North! The size of its footprint has an area of approximately 10 by 9.5 centimeters. In addition, wide hooves are a great help in moving through marshy soils.
Reindeer is a fairly large mammal, reaching two meters in length and one at the withers. Its winter coat is unusually thick, long and wavy; it is so dense that no wind blows a deer. His “fur coat” is usually dark brown in domestic animals and gray in wild. Interestingly, almost all types of deer are born spotted, and when they grow, they change their color. By the way, a large amount of air contained in the wool gives the deer excellent buoyancy, which gives it another unique ability - to easily cross rivers!
Reindeer are found in Siberia, Scandinavia and Greenland. This animal prefers mainly mountainous areas, rich in moss and alpine herbs that make up its diet.
Reindeers are still nomads! For example, in Siberia they travel every spring along the “forest-tundra” route, and in the summer, due to the abundance of annoying mosquitoes, they return back to taiga forests. Deer roam in huge herds. A lot of dangers await them along the way in the form of hungry wolves and other predators, whose victims are old or sick animals. A healthy and strong deer is usually too tough for a gray predator, but only until the first ice cover in the snow: most deer often cut their legs on ice, which is what the "orderlies of the forest" use to attack lame exhausted animals.
Reindeer and noble: who is more beautiful?
Unfortunately, the reindeer is not the first "guy in the village." Short legs, a small tail, fangs on the upper jaw of males - all this makes him far from the ideal of beauty, which can not be said about the red deer. This is a rather large cloven-hoofed mammal with a very graceful and slender physique and beautiful branched horns.
However, in defense of his northern counterpart, we note that the latter is one of the most beautiful animals of the North.
Irreplaceable friend
Northern peoples are entirely dependent on deer. Their whole life goes side by side with this animal. The inhabitants of the North always take care of places rich in food for these deer, and also wander past animals on pastures. In addition, reindeer is the prerogative of the rich. “You are poor if you do not possess this animal!” - states the rule of the northern peoples.
Life in captivity
In captivity, the reindeer becomes more tame, but still do not forget that this is a wild animal. Even such a mundane procedure as milking becomes possible only after a long and tiring fishing with the lasso of a female. The wild reindeer strives to show his proud "I": it is worth a little weakening of vigilance, as a domesticated animal turns into a feral handsome!
