Who knew? Well, apparently reindeer herders have known all about this, like, forever.
The reason it is assumed that Santa’s reindeer are male is because we assume that males have antlers and females do not, based on animals we are more familiar with in these parts, like deer and elk.
But the fact is that reindeer of both sexes grow antlers. It turns out that male reindeer, after a long fall rutting season of pursuing females for sex and neglecting their own nutrition and general physical health, lose their antlers and thus could not possibly be the reindeer pictured.
Pregnant females keep their antlers through spring, the better to protect themselves and their food source. It is unlikely that these work reindeer are females, which means they are probably non-pregnant females, who keep their antlers until February.
Besides, “Rudolf”‘s red nose would just be a sign of creative accessorizing, something females are excellent at.
They could, of course, also be steers, castrated males, who lose their antlers with the non-pregnant females. Maybe you don’t want to think about that.
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