The season is here to contemplate how reindeer fly. The article below seems to make more sense than most I have read, but I actually thought that since the middle of the 20th century, the reindeer flew based on electronics, mechanics, hydraulics, computers, power cells, and other modern marvels. What do you think? This is a SERIOUS matter, for fun and the season.... Be creative!!! ---- From: How Do Reindeer Fly? by Deb on December 13, 2010 There is a very good reason Santa lives at the North Pole ? that is the native habitat of the Flying Reindeer, Rangifer tarandus volaris. Without these unique creatures Santa could not make it around the world to deliver presents. While there are many flying animals who could help Santa pull the sleigh, reindeer have the advantage that they are already well adapted to extreme cold because they live in Arctic regions. This allows them to fly very high and take advantage of the thinner atmosphere to go quickly. Lift The Flying Reindeer have co-opted normal ruminant anatomy to achieve lift. Ruminants like cows have four stomachs to help them break down reindeergrass and especially cellulose. However, in areas where reindeer live they have had to switch their diet because of the very sparse vegetation. Much of Scandinavia was covered by glaciers in the last ice age which scoured away the arable soil, leaving very old crystalline rocks. These rocks support lichen, the main diet of the reindeer. The lichen is also breaking down the rocks, which contain many mineral deposits including iron, copper, nickel, zinc, silver and gold, and the reindeer eat large amounts of metals along with their normal food. Metals react with acid, including stomach acid, to produce hydrogen gas, and when they want to fly the Flying Reindeer collect and store this gas in another of their stomachs which is able to greatly enlarge. Hydrogen is of course lighter than air, and allows the reindeer to lift in the same way as Zeppelins did. Movement Once...

Reindeer fly because **I** will them to fly. 'nuff said.

On a sunny day (Thu, 17 Dec 2015 05:50:55 -0600) it happened "Dean Hoffman" wrote in : Like this: Makes a nice Christmas present. You could make a reindeer too.

How Do Reindeer Fly?

Dec 12, 2015 25 Replies

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Robert Green 10 years ago

I guess they smarten up *some* living near urban environments, the operative word being "some." Here near DC there are many, many animal rights activists who fight any sensible attempts at deer control "hoof and claw." My in-laws in NJ report much the same problem (that's where the sun-roof deer attacked). I think the last do-gooder plan was to sterilize the females with darts. Not sure where that one's sitting. I am hoping when the populations reach scourge levels they'll finally get around to offing them After all, we have some honor to preserve - it's taken us eons to become the apex predators of the world. At least racoons respect that and try to keep everything on the down-low. The local band comes by at 3AM every trash day and if you've got something they want, they're getting it.

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Robert Green 10 years ago

trailer. I saw the

still OK. Anymore?

OK...keep going kid,

decided to turn

Caught her with the

almost cleared it

The suicide gene at work! I seriously wonder what she was thinking with the danger already behind her to turn back? Fear of the open highway?

Ouch! They can really rack up the bonus bucks on their way to Planet Deer Heaven. Sunroof Deer cost almost as much. Your incident reminds me very much of the time when I saw a recap break off a truck rim several hundred yards ahead. I tracked it, watched it bounce - was sure to avoid it when another car hit the tread shred two lanes away and rammed it right into me.

I guess the lesson is to just pull over and stop but all the racing driver interviews I hear say it's better to steer out of trouble than brake out of it. I think it really depends on the trouble. That deer family was out to get you, I have no doubt!

I wonder if eventually deer will no longer be famous as being frozen in headlights because all the deer that *did* freeze in headlights got hit and failed to procreate? Surely you've enter a vote in the "don't turn around suddenly" gene pool.

But the deer have earned that reputation. Unlike lemmings and the shock of Disney's film makers faking the suicide deaths of all those little critters. Methinks they got a bad rap. Not so with the deer. My FIL had a prized garden ravished by deer who managed to get through the fencing and meshwork to do their evil deeds. He hated them until the day he died for taking a single bite out of every vegetable, ruining the entire crop.

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Paintedcow 10 years ago

The solution is to put night vision sunglasses on all deer, with a strap behind their ears to make sure the sunglasses dont come off.

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Dean Hoffman 10 years ago

I think the worst mess I've seen was a horse that got hit. Parts and pieces were scattered for maybe a quarter mile if I remember correctly. Deer seem to stay in one piece at least. Hitting a bull would be quite a deal.

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Jan Panteltje 10 years ago

On a sunny day (Thu, 17 Dec 2015 05:50:55 -0600) it happened "Dean Hoffman" wrote in :

Like this:

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Makes a nice Christmas present.

You could make a reindeer too.

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krw 10 years ago

Moose are genetically perfected car killers. They have long spindly legs that put their 1/2-3/4ton center of mass is right at windshield height.

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