Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Reindeer Farm

I wanted to do something quick, and fun last weekend, after checking out the local web site we decided on the reindeer farm.  The web site said they did not have a military discount, but when we arrived they gave us one anyway, very nice I thought. 
I thought we would get to see them from the other side of a fence, but we actually got to walk into the pens.  There were babies, less than a week old, and the older ones are very tame, they run right up to you.
We found out some interesting things.  The difference between a reindeer and a caribou it only that a reindeer is tame and a caribou is in the wild.  They have four stomaches, both male and females have antlers, but the males get an extra point in the middle.
The males on the farm are "fixed" it keeps them tame, but when they do that it changes the hormones and their antlers grow different like the one below.

It was a fun outing, the farm is nice, we will return this winter for a sleigh ride.  What better place to take a sleugh ride pulled by reindeer than Alaska.