One night, while doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, I was walking through the parking lot of Borders Books. As I squeezed between a car and a trailer that were parked too close together, I heard a loud snort. I turned and found myself face to face with a reindeer who had poked his nose through a slot in the side of the trailer. Startling but adorable.
Actually, no written sources of the modern Santa Claus legend specify whether the reindeer on Santa's team have antlers or not. And with the exceptions of Vixen and Cupid, they all have unisex names. Reindeer bulls can also be gelded, and if you do that, they keep their antlers. So if Santa's reindeer are male and antlered, they're lacking their jingle bells.
Every year around this time I'm reminded of what a goofy mistake that was Because Americans are only used to whitetailed deer and think all deer have little black button noses like dogs, Rudolph gets to have "a red nose" something which makes no sense on a reindeer, which has no separate nose, just a muzzle like a moose or a cow. and then we get all these illustrations that are clearly whitetailed deer pulling santa's sleigh..
Unless you were in a hurry that must've been kinda cool. I've been stuck by a herd of buffalo just hanging out in the road. The horn didn't scare them much, just enough to get me through after about a half hour. I was in Theodore Roosevelt national park, on vacation. More of a photo op than nuisance. Those things are BIG!!!
In 1892, the government began a project of importing reindeer from Siberia to Alaska, and teaching the natives how to raise the animals in order to have a steady and dependable food supply. The reindeer were obtained by Captain Michael Healy, who was known and trusted by the Siberian natives. Sheldon Jackson, the General Superintendent of Alaska, used his influence in the United States Congress to raise funds to purchase and care for the animals, and was placed in overall charge of training the herders. Initially "Hell Roaring" Mike Healy paid for the reindeer out of his own money. Captain Healy is an interesting story himself. Healy was the fifth of 10 children of the Healy family of Georgia, known for their achievements in the North after being born into slavery. Their parents were an Irish-born planter and his African-American mixed-race slave, with whom he had a common-law marriage. His father arranged for the children to be formally educated at boarding schools in the North. Healy served in the Revenue Cutter Service (which became the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915) and rose to the rank of Captain. He was the first African-American to command a vessel in government service.
I had to look what you said up and Wikipedia corroborates your statement but I could have sworn that I saw Caribou up in outside the Van Buren area. Maybe they walked over the river when it was frozen? It's kind of like when they say there are no mtn lion in CT yet find roadkill there against that assertion. Anyway it makes me sad that they are declining in such big numbers. I hope regardless of what the scientist say, they will be back. The forests are growing older, and the lichen could come back. Anyway, thanks for sharing.
I understand that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. I wanted to wish you and your loved ones the happiest of Christmases and a wonderful year ahead. Besides singing out loud with all joy, a hot cup of cheer may also be available but since we are cyber friends I cannot directly offer you a cup of cheer, I am sending a small token from me to help supply a cup of holiday cheer. Thanks for a lovely year of channel community. Don’t forget to sing out loud with great gusto. Merry Christmas
So, contrary to a lot of responses, Caribou and Reindeer are in fact genetically unique. Caribou are bigger and live in North America and have never been domesticated. They also scatter as a survival instict. Reindeer have been domesticated for a long time in the eastern hemisphere and tend to herd together as a survival strategy amd dont really migrate. Move around yes, but not crossing thousands of kilometers to winter and summer grounds. Reindeer were imported to Alaska from Russia as others have mentioned, as a way to give the natives a stable food source as well as an industry as there was never a reindeer herding culture here prior. And there is still a struggle to establish it. Not long ago the caribou stole tens of thousands of reindeer as the reindeer were allowed to free range and the caribou came further south than normal, and the reindeer, being strong herders, basically ran away with the Caribou herds. It is legal in Alaska and many other states to raise reindeer, but it is illegal to raise Caribou. The University of Alaska is actually using reindeer in a study in place of varibou becuase the caribou wont tolerate the confinement whereas the reindeer will. Hope this helps. And Merry Christmas to all!
So interesting. Thanks much. I think it’s hilarious that the reindeer ran away with the caribou. Maybe they really di prefer the freedom of the wild! So now we have reinibou?! :)
They actually are the same species tho scientifically speaking, more like different races. They haven't been separated long enough to turn into different species, just like Asians, Africans, and Caucasians are all the same species, even tho we often have cultural differences, or differences in common physical features. Technically, grizzlies and polar bears are the same species too. In all of these cases, they can all breed together, and their young aren't sterile, compared to say horses and donkeys or horses and zebras. The defining characteristic of a species is that they can successfully breed, generation after generation, not their temperment or behaviour. You wouldn't say that chihuahua's and great dane's are different species, even tho breeding them together is generally impractical due to their large morphological differences, there are breeders out there who do. Also not all European reindeer are domesticated, there are wild populations too, and wild European reindeer are typically SMALLER than the domesticated ones, the opposite of here in North America....
During the 1890s, the United States government believed that the Inuit people in Alaska were too reliant on the hunting of seals, walruses, and whales for sustenance. In 1892 the government first imported domestic reindeer to Seward Peninsula at Port Clarence. The hope was to introduce the non-native reindeer to the ecosystem of Alaska in order to provide a source of income and sustenance for the Inuit there. Also the emigration of Sami men, women, and children from Sápmi, the northern region of Scandinavia, to Alaska was funded. The US government encouraged the Sami, a people falsely stereotyped as being exclusively reindeer herding, to teach the art of reindeer husbandry to the Inuit. In 1937, though, the Reindeer Act was passed into law, banning the Sami and all other non-native Alaskans from herding reindeer in order to provide for Alaskan natives. This forced most Sami in Alaska to sell their herds to the government and mostly wiped out the reindeer husbandry industry in the United States. The introduction of reindeer made a lasting impact on the native caribou populations in Alaska, as they interbred with the introduced reindeer.
American caribou are the only members of the deer family where both the males and females have antlers! The females shed their antlers a few days after giving birth, which for some reason, I find adorable.
The US supposedly does have a few reindeer on one of the Aleutian Islands. Eurasian reindeer were brought there with the expectation that the locals would care for them as domestic animals but they didn't and now they're feral(the reindeer, not the locals) There used to be caribou in some of the northernmost contiguous states but they've been gone for a while now.
We have caribou at Northwest Trek!! Northwest Trek Wildlife Park is a 723-acre wildlife park located near the town of Eatonville, Washington, United States. The Free-Roaming Area is the park's main feature - a 435-acre (176 ha) free-range area. Animals that can be seen include: moose, mountain goat, Roosevelt elk, American bison, caribou, white-tailed deer, bighorn sheep, and trumpeter swan.
5:03 reindeer are a food source for humans. If you go up to Alaska, you will find all kinds of tasty reindeer meat, usually sausage. Reindeer sausage at breakfast, reindeer sausage carts on every corner in Anchorage in the summer. In fact I was buying a reindeer sausage sandwich at a cart in downtown Anchorage, and a man walked by with his pet reindeer wearing a harness and a lead. In fact, I had a pizza outside of Denali that had Ranger sausage, elk meat, and buffalo mozzarella.
Unfortunately, it believed that all of the North American reindeer that can fly have been turned to jerky. Scientist have been unable to find any reindeer abilities to fly. They blew it only a few ever had the ability to fly, and unfortunately, those are extinct now in North America.
Buffalo mozzarella? That's something I never heard of. In fact, do these buffalo farms milk the herd? Very interesting and just something I never thought about.
I love Caribou. There used to be Caribou in northeast Minnesota as recently as the 1940’s. The last one was spotted in the 1970’s. Having grown up in northern Minnesota, I hope to see them successfully reintroduced and growing in population in my lifetime.
@@wooddogg8 buffalo mozzarella comes from Italy. It's made from Water Buffalo milk. They are a kind of wild cow. Our buffalo are bison. Different animal. No we don't milk bison. I don't believe anyway. You could, but I doubt they'd stand for that nonsense🤣
My younger children were much more gullible but asked tougher questions. I had them believing reindeer had shorter lifespans than elves, but better life insurance, while elves had a good pension plan and often retired to Boca.
Laurence, since you clarified the term, caribou i the word for the wild ones, whereas reindeer is the term for domesticated ones, and the herd moves through Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic N.P.s abd, continuing into Canada's Yukon and NWT in their continuous migration, much like the zebras, wildebeest, and gazelles in Masai Mara and Serengeti N.P.s in Kenya and Tanzania, in E. Africa.
Caribou used to roam all across my home state of Maine. They were hunted down to a low population; a few hundred left by 1911. The last one ever seen in Maine was 1939. There have been programs to bring them back to no avail.
We Canucks do. Although, not regularly used interchangeably, "Reindeer" only for holiday season, Caribou the rest of the year. I know of no one in BC looking out a window at the passing herd and exclaiming "Reindeer!" It's, "oh look, Caribou..."
They're the same species, but not the same thing. At least up here in Alaska, "reindeer" is used by most people to refer to a domesticated caribou, usually farmed. Since it's illegal to sell wild game meat, it's a useful marketing distinction to call it "reindeer sausage" when you see it in the stores or at a restaurant.
The antlers on that one look like it has a 10 ft span . What a majestic creature ! One I wouldn't want to be anywhere near if it were the slightest bit angry. 💢
The antlers ARE large, but Caribou are not, relatively speaking. They are smaller than White-tailed deer, usually, and even a really large one is smaller than a Mule deer, certainly MUCH smaller than Elk. I've been up close, to a few wild specimens, (on the Kootenay Pass) in SE British Columbia and while not large, they are still beautiful and impressive creatures.
During WW2 my dad was stationed in the Yukon Territories along the Alcan Highway and the locals treated the guys at his post to Caribou steaks, which were probably better than the food they generally ate.
Caribou in BC, (the Northern part of the Selkirk herd mentioned in the video), are about the size of a healthy Columbia White tail deer, certainly smaller than a Mule deer and it would take 2+ Caribou to make up a scrawny Elk.
Forget the video, can we just talk about those vintage bubble lights on the tree?! My parents had those growing up and they were my dad's favorite thing ever. I wish we still had them.
OK, so I saw "5 Christmas Movies I Only Watched After Moving to America" but I still want to see Lawrence review the classics. I've been spending the day looking at reactions to It's a Wonderful Life. I'm trying to imagine Lawrence with tears running down his cheeks. It's difficult enough to imagine him smiling.
Happy Christmas, in our travels the closest we came to seeing the holiday in another country was mid-December in Sofia, Bulgaria 6 years ago. They certainly put up lovely decorations in public areas. Plus there was plenty of snow around so it felt very Christmasy… and cold… very cold.
I can tell you that up on the North Slope oil fields in Alaska, you aren't allowed to do anything at all to disturb the caribou.. you can't even pour out bottled water without facing severe fines, if they are in your way on the road, you aren't allowed to honk or do anything to hurry them along.. you just have to wait... (now combine that with the very, VERY spread out site bathrooms.... it has resulted in some very interesting stories from the slope workers... (my husband and several son in laws use to work up there...) polar bears are fun, too, as an fyi...
In a sense reindeer do live almost exclusively in Lappland. The "rein" in reindeer implies domestication, and the Lapps are the only ones who routinely domesticate the animals. Aside from a handful in zoos or maintained for Christmas displays, American caribou are wild. I was reminded, a couple of years ago, while listening to Noel Coward's "Mad dogs and Englishman Go Out In The Noonday Sun." of another quirk of caribou. Coward cited the name for an animal in South Asia. Of course he was talking about Cariboo, the domesticated water buffalo used as an agricultural draft animal. I knew this once upon a time, but as the Vietnam War fades in national memory, Coward's reference stumped me for moment. I think the phrase was "At noon when the carioo snooze . . ."
I think it's "Even cariboos lie around and snooze for there's nothing else to do." I hadn't realised he was actually referring to an animal found in the tropics, not just using the word because it rhymes with snooze.
As a Canadian, it's interesting to ruminate about all the deer-like species that actually exist and seem all to be celebrated at Christmas. There are Caribou, but, as far as I know, the major difference between them and the animals of essentially the same species being called raindeer in Europe is that the ones in North America are too wild to train to pull carts or to herd, although I believe certain peoples follow their migration. A similar cold-weather, heavy-looking animal is the elk. Moose, I think, aren't as adapted to the most extreme cold, but certainly also live in big wild places where conifer trees grow and it snows. I think the same might be true for the more classic North American deer,like white tailed deer. Those who don't think about animals much can easily go their whole lives without realizing that there's quite a number of these brown-hided deer-like species with male animals that have impressive branching, heavy antler racks. I've come up with four very difforent animal species here already, and that's counting the lighter, more fine-boned or small deer together since I still have no idea how many different species of dear are in Canada, or in North America generally.
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall The most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (Reindeer) Had a very shiny nose. (like a lightbulb) And if you ever saw it (saw it) You would even say it glows (like a lightbulb). All of the other reindeer (reindeer) Used to laugh and call him names (like Pinocchio). They never let poor Rudolph (Rudolph). Join in any reindeer games (like Monopoly). Then one foggy Christmas Eve Santa came to say, "Rudolph, with your nose so bright, Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" Then all the reindeer loved him (loved him) And they shouted out with glee (yippee!), "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (Reindeer), You'll go down in history!" (like George Washington!)
I LOVED THIS ONE!!! wow.... so, in America do you miss anything about a British Christmas that we don't have here .... though I know you can get anything in America you may be missing.
Merry X-mass🎅 My Christmas wishes and sincere hope for future generations is ...that we humans lose the casual callous disregard, many of us have, for other beings, creatures, and critters we share the world with and are unsuccessful in the extinction of the North American reindeer aka Caribou.🎄 I think the folks who have been living for hundreds of years in the area, those who eat the caribou, take care of the caribou, understand the balance of nature, and don't abuse it. I think they honor what the caribou offer by treating them with respect, even in the culling.
When we visited Denali Nationa Park in 2013, we took the bus tour, and we’re on the one lane gravel road, and there’s a Caribou just walking down the road slowly. No way to go around it. So we spent like 20 minutes staring at reindeer butt.
As a former British Columbia guy, many's the time I've seen caribou alongside the highway while heading over the Kootenay Pass on the Salmo-Creston (Highway 3) in the Kootenay Boundary District. Not as large as Elk, but amazing and beautiful animals. Can confirm; they don't fly.
There are Reindeer in the lower 48, but they've been put in a reserve. So, while they're still here, they're no longer considered "wild". As they're under management.
Domesticated caribou are called reindeer. I was told this in Fairbanks, Alaska when they served reindeer sausage for breakfast. They suffer from too warm temperatures .
Angel number three at the back of the stage - I'd have loved to be a reindeer .Carry what ? It's always been a source of quiz questions as we don't see many in the UK.
In the spirit of this episode, I'd like to point out that my niece once lived in North Pole, Alaska. True to its name, it has its own reindeer herd. A local resident legally changed his name to Santa Claus and successfully ran for city council.
I just love your most unique way of speaking. As do thousands of others. Thank goodness!! Don’t ever change, “Do that now!” You’re the ONLY one who makes that fun. I’d miss it. Keep it forever :) Happy Christmas to both of you, your kitty, and your doggy :) 🌲🕯️🌺🌱☃️✨🕊️🎄 I am so upset hearing about the caribou. I hope the caribou tribe and Others can continue to take care of them. 🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌❄️🌲
I can say for sure, there are still reindeer everywhere in the lower 48. They just got a lot better at not being found. But you have to go way out to the plains states to find them. I saw a couple only a year ago in Montana.
As a German, the term "Caribou" or the German spelling "Karibu" is not unknown to me. Unfortunately, I have no idea where I know the term from, probably from a TV documentary. However, I did not know or have already forgotten that caribou are reindeer.
Last time I checked, Canada has an export ban on Reindeer. As a result, all Reindeer in the US are from domesticated, US stock and genetically distinct from their wild Canadian counterparts. The mo' you kno'
There are reindeer/caribou in the lower 48...their main thing is that a lot of places raise them on farms. Often places that also breed, raise, and train them for various things such as with movies/TV and places for around Christmas. Unfortunately, several states have them on their exotics list, so hard for places to get a herd to handle now. There are also places where there are mount trained reindeer
Really interesting. I remember watching nature programmes as a child featuring the migratory routes of caribou. I never realised that caribou are reindeer( feel a bit silly now 😏) until your video! Thank goodness there was a little good news for the reindeer/caribou.
There's a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch with a line readng "Caribou!...No, dear, nibbling the [croquet] hoops" Graham Chapman then shoots at them out the house window.
Merry Christmas Laurence and Tara. 😁🎄🎅 I did some research. Caribou are subspecies of the Eurasian reindeer. There are actually 14 subspecies of reindeer based on the climate they live in. Reindeer live in the cold snowy arctic areas. Interesting subject I wouldn't have thought of until you posted this. Thanks 😃👍❤
Living in North America my wholel 74 years, I never knew that caribou were raindeer. I logged onto this video thinking, there are no raindeer in N.A. That's a Scandinavian animal. Thanks!
We still have caribou on the East Coast as well, in Newfoundland & Labrador (both on the island of Newfoundland, and on the mainland in Labrador) and hunting of Labrador's George River Caribou herd has been halted due to its plummeting numbers: from 750,000 in the 1990s to 27,600 in 2012. In 2022, the population was estimated at 7,200, less than 1% of its historic abundance.
5:03 reindeer are also a food source for humans. If you go to Alaska, you will find tasty reindeer sausage everywhere. I had some with breakfast, and there are carts selling reindeer sausage all over Anchorage. In fact, I was buying a reindeer sausage sandwich in downtown Anchorage, and a man walked by leading his pet reindeer by a lead and a harness.
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One night, while doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, I was walking through the parking lot of Borders Books. As I squeezed between a car and a trailer that were parked too close together, I heard a loud snort. I turned and found myself face to face with a reindeer who had poked his nose through a slot in the side of the trailer. Startling but adorable.
@CarolannBrendel not everyone can say that they were a reindeer's handkerchief!
I remember visiting a reindeer preserve in Washington as a child. I was completely enchanted!
Isn't it depressing that parking lots exist?
Yes, reindeer are notoriously bad at parking trailers.
@@growingmelancholy8374 it is, till you go to a store. a kind of necessary evil
You might also want to mention male reindeer loose their antlers in the winter. Santa is pulled by female reindeer.
well, unless you have them fixed. which for draft animals, you usually do.
Actually, no written sources of the modern Santa Claus legend specify whether the reindeer on Santa's team have antlers or not. And with the exceptions of Vixen and Cupid, they all have unisex names. Reindeer bulls can also be gelded, and if you do that, they keep their antlers. So if Santa's reindeer are male and antlered, they're lacking their jingle bells.
@@AtarahDerek 🤣
@@AtarahDerekGood euphemism! Merry Hanukah! I gave you both in case. 😊
New headcanon, the reindeer are agender
As an Alaskan, I was so excited for a hot second that you had come up to Alaska! 😆
“Rudolf the red nose Caribou” just doesn’t have that ring to it.😂🎉
Rudolf the Crimson Conk Caribou.
🔴
Carl, the Crimson Caribou
Every year around this time I'm reminded of what a goofy mistake that was
Because Americans are only used to whitetailed deer and think all deer have little black button noses like dogs, Rudolph gets to have "a red nose"
something which makes no sense on a reindeer, which has no separate nose, just a muzzle like a moose or a cow.
and then we get all these illustrations that are clearly whitetailed deer pulling santa's sleigh..
@KairuHakubi And the cows without antlers!
I've been stuck waiting for a herd of caribou to cross the highway for over an hour once.
Could they not make up their minds? You should have directed them to the zebra crossing, to show them the way.
Unless you were in a hurry that must've been kinda cool. I've been stuck by a herd of buffalo just hanging out in the road. The horn didn't scare them much, just enough to get me through after about a half hour. I was in Theodore Roosevelt national park, on vacation. More of a photo op than nuisance. Those things are BIG!!!
The US Coast Guard helped to import reindeer to Alaska from Russia on the Cutter Rush in the 1880's to relieve a famine during the Gold Rush times
That is interesting.
In 1892, the government began a project of importing reindeer from Siberia to Alaska, and teaching the natives how to raise the animals in order to have a steady and dependable food supply. The reindeer were obtained by Captain Michael Healy, who was known and trusted by the Siberian natives. Sheldon Jackson, the General Superintendent of Alaska, used his influence in the United States Congress to raise funds to purchase and care for the animals, and was placed in overall charge of training the herders.
Initially "Hell Roaring" Mike Healy paid for the reindeer out of his own money. Captain Healy is an interesting story himself. Healy was the fifth of 10 children of the Healy family of Georgia, known for their achievements in the North after being born into slavery. Their parents were an Irish-born planter and his African-American mixed-race slave, with whom he had a common-law marriage. His father arranged for the children to be formally educated at boarding schools in the North.
Healy served in the Revenue Cutter Service (which became the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915) and rose to the rank of Captain. He was the first African-American to command a vessel in government service.
Maine attempted to reintroduce Caribou about 25 years ago. It didn’t work though. The few that survived quarantine roamed back to Canada.
I had to look what you said up and Wikipedia corroborates your statement but I could have sworn that I saw Caribou up in outside the Van Buren area. Maybe they walked over the river when it was frozen? It's kind of like when they say there are no mtn lion in CT yet find roadkill there against that assertion. Anyway it makes me sad that they are declining in such big numbers. I hope regardless of what the scientist say, they will be back. The forests are growing older, and the lichen could come back. Anyway, thanks for sharing.
@@muggywebster1117A caribou wandered into NW Montana a few years ago.
I understand that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.
I wanted to wish you and your loved ones the happiest of Christmases and a wonderful year ahead. Besides singing out loud with all joy, a hot cup of cheer may also be available but since we are cyber friends I cannot directly offer you a cup of cheer, I am sending a small token from me to help supply a cup of holiday cheer.
Thanks for a lovely year of channel community. Don’t forget to sing out loud with great gusto. Merry Christmas
So, contrary to a lot of responses, Caribou and Reindeer are in fact genetically unique. Caribou are bigger and live in North America and have never been domesticated. They also scatter as a survival instict.
Reindeer have been domesticated for a long time in the eastern hemisphere and tend to herd together as a survival strategy amd dont really migrate. Move around yes, but not crossing thousands of kilometers to winter and summer grounds.
Reindeer were imported to Alaska from Russia as others have mentioned, as a way to give the natives a stable food source as well as an industry as there was never a reindeer herding culture here prior. And there is still a struggle to establish it.
Not long ago the caribou stole tens of thousands of reindeer as the reindeer were allowed to free range and the caribou came further south than normal, and the reindeer, being strong herders, basically ran away with the Caribou herds.
It is legal in Alaska and many other states to raise reindeer, but it is illegal to raise Caribou.
The University of Alaska is actually using reindeer in a study in place of varibou becuase the caribou wont tolerate the confinement whereas the reindeer will.
Hope this helps.
And Merry Christmas to all!
Thanks for the explanation.
So interesting. Thanks much. I think it’s hilarious that the reindeer ran away with the caribou. Maybe they really di prefer the freedom of the wild! So now we have reinibou?! :)
the caribou kidnapped the reindeer 😂
They actually are the same species tho scientifically speaking, more like different races. They haven't been separated long enough to turn into different species, just like Asians, Africans, and Caucasians are all the same species, even tho we often have cultural differences, or differences in common physical features. Technically, grizzlies and polar bears are the same species too. In all of these cases, they can all breed together, and their young aren't sterile, compared to say horses and donkeys or horses and zebras. The defining characteristic of a species is that they can successfully breed, generation after generation, not their temperment or behaviour. You wouldn't say that chihuahua's and great dane's are different species, even tho breeding them together is generally impractical due to their large morphological differences, there are breeders out there who do. Also not all European reindeer are domesticated, there are wild populations too, and wild European reindeer are typically SMALLER than the domesticated ones, the opposite of here in North America....
During the 1890s, the United States government believed that the Inuit people in Alaska were too reliant on the hunting of seals, walruses, and whales for sustenance. In 1892 the government first imported domestic reindeer to Seward Peninsula at Port Clarence. The hope was to introduce the non-native reindeer to the ecosystem of Alaska in order to provide a source of income and sustenance for the Inuit there. Also the emigration of Sami men, women, and children from Sápmi, the northern region of Scandinavia, to Alaska was funded. The US government encouraged the Sami, a people falsely stereotyped as being exclusively reindeer herding, to teach the art of reindeer husbandry to the Inuit. In 1937, though, the Reindeer Act was passed into law, banning the Sami and all other non-native Alaskans from herding reindeer in order to provide for Alaskan natives. This forced most Sami in Alaska to sell their herds to the government and mostly wiped out the reindeer husbandry industry in the United States. The introduction of reindeer made a lasting impact on the native caribou populations in Alaska, as they interbred with the introduced reindeer.
American caribou are the only members of the deer family where both the males and females have antlers! The females shed their antlers a few days after giving birth, which for some reason, I find adorable.
"Laurence, does your wife know where all North American reindeer live?" "I don't know, Alaska."
That will now be stolen and used at our Christmas lunch.
(I think a substitute cracker joke slip needs preparing.)
Oh, c'mon! Juneau!
My grandfather was born in Lapland. I was there in 1970 when I was twelve years old. Had some reindeer stew, they herd them around.
MERRY CHRISTMAS LAURENCE AND WIFE!!!
I'm so glad to hear about the porcupine caribou (heavens what a name!!!). Merry Christmas to you, your family, and all of your viewers!🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
The US supposedly does have a few reindeer on one of the Aleutian Islands. Eurasian reindeer were brought there with the expectation that the locals would care for them as domestic animals but they didn't and now they're feral(the reindeer, not the locals) There used to be caribou in some of the northernmost contiguous states but they've been gone for a while now.
Reindeer aka Caribou can be found in Norway, Finland, Russia (Siberia), Greenland, USA (Alaska), and Canada
Not Sweden tho?
@missano3856 @rs.matr1x claims that caribou can be found in those countries. Maybe the caribou in Sweden are better at hiding?
We have caribou at Northwest Trek!! Northwest Trek Wildlife Park is a 723-acre wildlife park located near the town of Eatonville, Washington, United States. The Free-Roaming Area is the park's main feature - a 435-acre (176 ha) free-range area. Animals that can be seen include: moose, mountain goat, Roosevelt elk, American bison, caribou, white-tailed deer, bighorn sheep, and trumpeter swan.
OMG YOUR TREE HAS THOSE TRIPPY BUBBLE LIGHTS! 😍
5:03 reindeer are a food source for humans. If you go up to Alaska, you will find all kinds of tasty reindeer meat, usually sausage. Reindeer sausage at breakfast, reindeer sausage carts on every corner in Anchorage in the summer. In fact I was buying a reindeer sausage sandwich at a cart in downtown Anchorage, and a man walked by with his pet reindeer wearing a harness and a lead. In fact, I had a pizza outside of Denali that had Ranger sausage, elk meat, and buffalo mozzarella.
Unfortunately, it believed that all of the North American reindeer that can fly have been turned to jerky. Scientist have been unable to find any reindeer abilities to fly. They blew it only a few ever had the ability to fly, and unfortunately, those are extinct now in North America.
Yummy❤
Buffalo mozzarella? That's something I never heard of. In fact, do these buffalo farms milk the herd? Very interesting and just something I never thought about.
I love Caribou. There used to be Caribou in northeast Minnesota as recently as the 1940’s. The last one was spotted in the 1970’s. Having grown up in northern Minnesota, I hope to see them successfully reintroduced and growing in population in my lifetime.
@@wooddogg8 buffalo mozzarella comes from Italy. It's made from Water Buffalo milk. They are a kind of wild cow. Our buffalo are bison. Different animal. No we don't milk bison. I don't believe anyway. You could, but I doubt they'd stand for that nonsense🤣
My younger children were much more gullible but asked tougher questions. I had them believing reindeer had shorter lifespans than elves, but better life insurance, while elves had a good pension plan and often retired to Boca.
"I make that herd to be at least a hundred thousand. Maybe even a million. It's gonna be hours before they clear this track!"
-Michael Jeter
I just watched the Polar Express with my son.😂
@ Good for you. ;)
I am from Chino California. From the Inland Empire, the largest county in the US. Your videos are amazing and spot on. Keep up the good work.
Laurence, since you clarified the term, caribou i the word for the wild ones, whereas reindeer is the term for domesticated ones, and the herd moves through Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic N.P.s abd, continuing into Canada's Yukon and NWT in their continuous migration, much like the zebras, wildebeest, and gazelles in Masai Mara and Serengeti N.P.s in Kenya and Tanzania, in E. Africa.
Caribou used to roam all across my home state of Maine. They were hunted down to a low population; a few hundred left by 1911. The last one ever seen in Maine was 1939. There have been programs to bring them back to no avail.
2:00 yes but also most Americans won't know that caribou and reindeer mean the same thing.
We Canucks do. Although, not regularly used interchangeably, "Reindeer" only for holiday season, Caribou the rest of the year.
I know of no one in BC looking out a window at the passing herd and exclaiming "Reindeer!"
It's, "oh look, Caribou..."
They're the same species, but not the same thing. At least up here in Alaska, "reindeer" is used by most people to refer to a domesticated caribou, usually farmed.
Since it's illegal to sell wild game meat, it's a useful marketing distinction to call it "reindeer sausage" when you see it in the stores or at a restaurant.
Merry Christmas Laurence! Thank you for the video, always a pleasure!
The antlers on that one look like it has a 10 ft span . What a majestic creature ! One I wouldn't want to be anywhere near if it were the slightest bit angry. 💢
You really don't want to be around a male when they're "randy"
The antlers ARE large, but Caribou are not, relatively speaking. They are smaller than White-tailed deer, usually, and even a really large one is smaller than a Mule deer, certainly MUCH smaller than Elk.
I've been up close, to a few wild specimens, (on the Kootenay Pass) in SE British Columbia and while not large, they are still beautiful and impressive creatures.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year everyone.From Laurence’s mum,Susan.
They’ve emigrated to Japan to help Nokotan start the Deervolution!
Nutch!
The role of "Reindeer Number 2" is legendary! What an honor😉😅
Oooh, Laurence, Im the first one here! That never happens! Happy Christmas to the whole fam!
During WW2 my dad was stationed in the Yukon Territories along the Alcan Highway and the locals treated the guys at his post to Caribou steaks, which were probably better than the food they generally ate.
I played a reindeer in a school play in 3rd grade... reused the cow costume from 2nd grade... lol... took off the spots and added antlers 😂
Merry Christmas, Lawrence!
I did not know about this! I live in rural Washington State near Canada, where we still have Elk herds. They are huge deer!
Caribou in BC, (the Northern part of the Selkirk herd mentioned in the video), are about the size of a healthy Columbia White tail deer, certainly smaller than a Mule deer and it would take 2+ Caribou to make up a scrawny Elk.
Merry Christmas Laurence & Your Lovely Wife and the Fur Babies ⛄🎄💝
Thanks for all your great videos throughout the year! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Forget the video, can we just talk about those vintage bubble lights on the tree?! My parents had those growing up and they were my dad's favorite thing ever. I wish we still had them.
Love the bubble lights on your Christmas tree!
Happy Christmas to you and your family. 🎄
OK, so I saw "5 Christmas Movies I Only Watched After Moving to America" but I still want to see Lawrence review the classics. I've been spending the day looking at reactions to It's a Wonderful Life. I'm trying to imagine Lawrence with tears running down his cheeks. It's difficult enough to imagine him smiling.
Happy Christmas, in our travels the closest we came to seeing the holiday in another country was mid-December in Sofia, Bulgaria 6 years ago. They certainly put up lovely decorations in public areas. Plus there was plenty of snow around so it felt very Christmasy… and cold… very cold.
If you want to get technical, reindeer are at least partially domesticated, while caribou are still wild.
I can tell you that up on the North Slope oil fields in Alaska, you aren't allowed to do anything at all to disturb the caribou.. you can't even pour out bottled water without facing severe fines, if they are in your way on the road, you aren't allowed to honk or do anything to hurry them along.. you just have to wait... (now combine that with the very, VERY spread out site bathrooms.... it has resulted in some very interesting stories from the slope workers... (my husband and several son in laws use to work up there...) polar bears are fun, too, as an fyi...
In a sense reindeer do live almost exclusively in Lappland. The "rein" in reindeer implies domestication, and the Lapps are the only ones who routinely domesticate the animals. Aside from a handful in zoos or maintained for Christmas displays, American caribou are wild.
I was reminded, a couple of years ago, while listening to Noel Coward's "Mad dogs and Englishman Go Out In The Noonday Sun." of another quirk of caribou. Coward cited the name for an animal in South Asia. Of course he was talking about Cariboo, the domesticated water buffalo used as an agricultural draft animal. I knew this once upon a time, but as the Vietnam War fades in national memory, Coward's reference stumped me for moment. I think the phrase was "At noon when the carioo snooze . . ."
I think it's "Even cariboos lie around and snooze for there's nothing else to do." I hadn't realised he was actually referring to an animal found in the tropics, not just using the word because it rhymes with snooze.
Lawrence, I Love your bubble lights on your Christmas tree.❤
Happy Christmas LB!
Happy Christmas! 🎄🎄
As a Canadian, it's interesting to ruminate about all the deer-like species that actually exist and seem all to be celebrated at Christmas. There are Caribou, but, as far as I know, the major difference between them and the animals of essentially the same species being called raindeer in Europe is that the ones in North America are too wild to train to pull carts or to herd, although I believe certain peoples follow their migration. A similar cold-weather, heavy-looking animal is the elk. Moose, I think, aren't as adapted to the most extreme cold, but certainly also live in big wild places where conifer trees grow and it snows. I think the same might be true for the more classic North American deer,like white tailed deer. Those who don't think about animals much can easily go their whole lives without realizing that there's quite a number of these brown-hided deer-like species with male animals that have impressive branching, heavy antler racks. I've come up with four very difforent animal species here already, and that's counting the lighter, more fine-boned or small deer together since I still have no idea how many different species of dear are in Canada, or in North America generally.
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (Reindeer)
Had a very shiny nose. (like a lightbulb)
And if you ever saw it (saw it)
You would even say it glows (like a lightbulb).
All of the other reindeer (reindeer)
Used to laugh and call him names (like Pinocchio).
They never let poor Rudolph (Rudolph).
Join in any reindeer games (like Monopoly).
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say,
"Rudolph, with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Then all the reindeer loved him (loved him)
And they shouted out with glee (yippee!),
"Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (Reindeer),
You'll go down in history!" (like George Washington!)
Olive, the other reindeer...
Merry Christmas 🎁🎄 to u and your family.
I LOVED THIS ONE!!! wow.... so, in America do you miss anything about a British Christmas that we don't have here .... though I know you can get anything in America you may be missing.
Merry Christmas to you and Tara & to all your loved ones. May you have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2025.
Merry X-mass🎅 My Christmas wishes and sincere hope for future generations is ...that we humans lose the casual callous disregard, many of us have, for other beings, creatures, and critters we share the world with and are unsuccessful in the extinction of the North American reindeer aka Caribou.🎄 I think the folks who have been living for hundreds of years in the area, those who eat the caribou, take care of the caribou, understand the balance of nature, and don't abuse it. I think they honor what the caribou offer by treating them with respect, even in the culling.
I hope you and your wife have a peaceful Christmas 🎄.
Descendant of reindeer herders here! Roasting in Texas. Here for the beer.
When we visited Denali Nationa Park in 2013, we took the bus tour, and we’re on the one lane gravel road, and there’s a Caribou just walking down the road slowly. No way to go around it. So we spent like 20 minutes staring at reindeer butt.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours in this holiday season! Thank you for all your effort in your videos!...
Merry Christmas Lawrence (or Happy Christmas in your case)
Why? Do you think Brits don't say "Merry Christmas"? What a weird assumption.
Merry Christmas, Lost in the Pond!🎄
Well, grandma got run over by the reindeer and saddly, it had to be put down.
Indeed, Grandma was found with hoofprints on her forehead, and incriminating "Claus" marks on her back! "As for me and Grandpa, we believe!" 🤣
🦌🦌🦌🎄🎄🎄 Merry Christmas 🎄🎄🎄🦌🦌🦌
Brits believe Santa lives in Finland? Well, that explains the Santa Claus movie. The one from the 80’s, not The Santa Clause.
He does live in Finland.
Santa migrated to Finland after the Arctic Ocean ice cap melted one summer. Turns out, solid ground is better for living on.
As a former British Columbia guy, many's the time I've seen caribou alongside the highway while heading over the Kootenay Pass on the Salmo-Creston (Highway 3) in the Kootenay Boundary District. Not as large as Elk, but amazing and beautiful animals.
Can confirm; they don't fly.
Happy Christmas to Laurence and his family! Thank you for the update on the reindeer and caribou situation.
You'll always be reindeer #2 to us, Lawrence
we had them in my lifetime in NW Montana too
Merry Christmas Lawrence 🎄
I love your videos. I hope that you and your wife have a very Merry Christmas! 🎄🎁
Merry Christmas!
There are Reindeer in the lower 48, but they've been put in a reserve. So, while they're still here, they're no longer considered "wild". As they're under management.
Domesticated caribou are called reindeer. I was told this in Fairbanks, Alaska when they served reindeer sausage for breakfast.
They suffer from too warm temperatures
.
Merry Christmas Lawrence!
Angel number three at the back of the stage - I'd have loved to be a reindeer .Carry what ? It's always been a source of quiz questions as we don't see many in the UK.
In the spirit of this episode, I'd like to point out that my niece once lived in North Pole, Alaska. True to its name, it has its own reindeer herd. A local resident legally changed his name to Santa Claus and successfully ran for city council.
I just love your most unique way of speaking. As do thousands of others. Thank goodness!! Don’t ever change, “Do that now!” You’re the ONLY one who makes that fun. I’d miss it. Keep it forever :)
Happy Christmas to both of you, your kitty, and your doggy :) 🌲🕯️🌺🌱☃️✨🕊️🎄
I am so upset hearing about the caribou. I hope the caribou tribe and Others can continue to take care of them. 🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌❄️🌲
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
To Mr and Mrs Lost in the Pond
🌟🤰🚼🐑👼👑🐪🐪🐪🎁📯🎄🎆💕
Merry Christmas Laurence and Laurence's wife. May y'all be blessed.
That mask is terrifying. I'm going to be awake until Christmas now!
I can say for sure, there are still reindeer everywhere in the lower 48. They just got a lot better at not being found. But you have to go way out to the plains states to find them. I saw a couple only a year ago in Montana.
As a German, the term "Caribou" or the German spelling "Karibu" is not unknown to me. Unfortunately, I have no idea where I know the term from, probably from a TV documentary. However, I did not know or have already forgotten that caribou are reindeer.
Last time I checked, Canada has an export ban on Reindeer. As a result, all Reindeer in the US are from domesticated, US stock and genetically distinct from their wild Canadian counterparts. The mo' you kno'
There are reindeer/caribou in the lower 48...their main thing is that a lot of places raise them on farms. Often places that also breed, raise, and train them for various things such as with movies/TV and places for around Christmas. Unfortunately, several states have them on their exotics list, so hard for places to get a herd to handle now.
There are also places where there are mount trained reindeer
Happy Holidays ❤❤☃️🎄
Really enjoying your channel Merry Christmas
For a sec I thought you said carving grounds. Then I realized you said calving grounds.
Really interesting. I remember watching nature programmes as a child featuring the migratory routes of caribou. I never realised that caribou are reindeer( feel a bit silly now 😏) until your video! Thank goodness there was a little good news for the reindeer/caribou.
Merry Christmas Laurence.
Food for the algorithm
Happy holidays!
There's a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch with a line readng "Caribou!...No, dear, nibbling the [croquet] hoops" Graham Chapman then shoots at them out the house window.
Merry Christmas Laurence and Tara. 😁🎄🎅 I did some research. Caribou are subspecies of the Eurasian reindeer. There are actually 14 subspecies of reindeer based on the climate they live in. Reindeer live in the cold snowy arctic areas. Interesting subject I wouldn't have thought of until you posted this. Thanks 😃👍❤
Living in North America my wholel 74 years, I never knew that caribou were raindeer. I logged onto this video thinking, there are no raindeer in N.A. That's a Scandinavian animal. Thanks!
We still have caribou on the East Coast as well, in Newfoundland & Labrador (both on the island of Newfoundland, and on the mainland in Labrador) and hunting of Labrador's George River Caribou herd has been halted due to its plummeting numbers: from 750,000 in the 1990s to 27,600 in 2012. In 2022, the population was estimated at 7,200, less than 1% of its historic abundance.
5:03 reindeer are also a food source for humans. If you go to Alaska, you will find tasty reindeer sausage everywhere. I had some with breakfast, and there are carts selling reindeer sausage all over Anchorage. In fact, I was buying a reindeer sausage sandwich in downtown Anchorage, and a man walked by leading his pet reindeer by a lead and a harness.
So it's cool with you to eat an animal into extinction? Who's the animal now?
@mygreywolf The reindeer that are being eaten are domesticated, raised for their meat.
I am an American and did not realize reindeer had ever lived on this continent, nor did I realize that 'we' call them caribou!
Legend has it that a big herd tried to migrate to the ArkLaHomaTex area and they all got poached.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Santa Claus is a combination of the Dutch Sinterklaas and Father Christmas, with German Christmas elements.
In the lower 48 they lived in "Washington, Idaho, Maine"...Minnesota, MIchigan, Wisconsin and possibly parts of New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont.