Eight Tiny Reindeer?

Santa Claus at Christmas Parade, Toronto, Ontario, 2009 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

“Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse.

… out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter …

When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.”

excerpt from The Night Before Christmas, 1823 in The Troy Sentinel

24 December 2020

Miniature sleigh? Tiny reindeer? A human-sized Santa Claus needs a normal sleigh and full-sized reindeer to pull it. Just two reindeer take up a lot of space.

Santa in sleigh pulled by two reindeer, 2007, Torquay, UK (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Imagine eight of these!

Reindeer to take part in Christmas festivities, Yate, UK 2004 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), called caribou in North America, range in size from 5.3 to 7 feet long. Males weigh 350 – 400 lbs, females weigh 180 – 260 lbs. Both sexes have antlers though at different times of year.

Reindeer in Norway (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

These are not small animals. Eight full-sized reindeer and a full-sized sleigh would damage any house they landed on. Santa really needs tiny reindeer. Perhaps he went to Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole, to get them.

Like other island species the reindeer on Svalbard have evolved to a smaller size. If you need small reindeer they’re the smallest on Earth, only 50-60% the size of other caribou.

Problem solved.

Christmas lights, Etobicoke, Ontario (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

It’s safe for Santa to come tonight.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)

5 thoughts on “Eight Tiny Reindeer?

  1. Such a delightful and informative post, Kate. As if it would be anything else!
    Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!!

  2. Thanks, Kate for sharing this. Never really thought about it. Wishing you a Merry Christmas! Looks like it’s going to be a white one.
    How did the Christmas bird count go? Maybe I missed your report on it.

    1. The Pittsburgh CBC is on the Saturday after Christmas (12/26) so that news is coming up in a couple of days.

  3. With Santa being magical it is not hard for him to miniaturize the deer and sleigh; after all, he himself (and his bag of toys) has to get down the chimney and then up again just by laying his finger alongside his nose!!! Oh,the wonders of Christmas….

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