Eight Tiny Cervids

I felt obligated to write some sort of holiday-themed post, so here goes nothing. Every year (in the western world) we are bombarded by images of a fat man in a flying sleigh pulled by eight members of the Cervidae family. You may tell your children that these eight flying creatures are “reindeer,” and refer to pictures like these:

 

I am here to tell you that you are lying to your children. That’s right. You are a liar. You lie to children. How are we supposed to count on these creatures (the children, not the reindeer) to be our future if we can’t even tell them simple truths? The sad truth is, most of the Christmas depictions of Santa’s livestock we see are blatant fallacies. I know a reindeer when I see one. And these are not reindeer:

 White Tail                                                                     Fallow Deer

This is a reindeer:

Can't you tell the difference? Reindeer are also known as caribou. According to Merriam-Webster, “Caribou are a large gregarious deer (Rangifer tarandus) of Holarctic taiga and tundra that usually has palmate antlers in both sexes —used especially for one of the New World —called also reindeer.” So, now we know what a reindeer is and isn’t, no one should ever get the Cervids mixed up again. Ever. Excellent.