In the spirit of Christmas, let’s learn a little more about Santa’s reindeer gang. Reindeer, which we more commonly known as caribou, are closely related to the beloved white-tailed deer that live right here in Will County. Caribou and white-tailed deer both belong to the Cervidae family. Caribou are unique, however, because they are the only member of the Cervidae family in which both the males and females grow antlers. That means it’s just as likely that Donner, Blitzen and the rest of Santa’s crew are girls than they are boys.
In North America, caribou typically live in the northern forests of Alaska and Canada, and they have the longest migration of any land mammal on the continent, traveling more than 3,000 miles in a year. And no, in case you were wondering, no caribou have ever been found with real Rudolph red noses.