Reindeer: exemplary swimmers.
During the magic of Christmas, the reindeer can’t fly to bring presents together with the bearded man, but they float.
Reindeer, also known as caribou, are exemplary swimmers. They reach speeds of up to 9.6 km per hour, they do this to move between habitats separated by water. The fact that they are good at swimming is that they float quite well. It’s all due to the adaptations of their hooves and their coat, it’s what makes them buoyant. Their hairs are hollow, they are filled with air pockets, allowing them to keep warm even in very frosty temperatures. Basically, it’s a fluff that makes a thermal insulator.
A warm but light fur that allows the reindeer to move easily and comfortably without weighing themselves down. All those air-filled hairs are portable buoyancy aid. Thanks to their broad hooves, reindeer can propel their buoyant bodies through the water with ease. They help themselves with their horns sticking out of the water. They cannot therefore fly as in the imagination of children who dream of seeing them travel in the sky with Santa Claus to bring gifts. Reindeer, if anything, float.
They also seasonally change their eye color as an adaptation to see better at dusk. These animals also implement the so-called reindeer cyclones. It happens when they get scared and so they stick together and keep moving in a constant whirling motion. A behavior, perhaps, implemented to confuse predators (bears, wolves) and make it more difficult to identify a single animal from the herd. In short, even if the reindeer cannot fly, it is still a special animal.
