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Subject: Reindeer hooves From: Steve Parkes Date: 31 Oct 00 - 11:02 AM This is not a musical question (but look here if an excuse is needed!), but I'm planning a Christmas decoration which will involve a worm's eye view of a galloping reindeer. This means I need to know what the underside of a reindeer's hoof looks like. So far I've had no luck (except the poem in the blue clicky thing above), so I'm asking the People Who Know Everything Worth Knowing: can you point me in the direction of a photo or diagram of the underside of a reindeer's hoof, please? if I ever get it sorted out, I'll post a pic. of the finished work Thanks, Steve |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 31 Oct 00 - 11:12 AM Well, it's not like me to give serious help, Steve, mate, but in the absence of an appropriate joke I think it behoves (behooves?) me to try: If they are like other deer it would be two quite small "slots", sorta: (||) I'm thinking back to my days in the boy sprouts, there must be tracks info' in a wildlife book somewhere: I-Spy, or Romany (Oh dear, I'm relapsing to the '50s again!). When I see deer tracks in Windsor Great Park on our occasional Sunday walks I'm always surprised how small they are, relative to the size of the deer. Probably need the Norwegian and Iceland contingent for a definitive answer. Tara a bit RtS |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: MMario Date: 31 Oct 00 - 11:13 AM it's a divided hoof, deer or elk would be similar |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: Ebbie Date: 31 Oct 00 - 03:32 PM Keep in mind, Steve P., that between the two halves of the hoof is a hard, hair-covered tissue perfectly capable of picking up unfortunate worms when the halves close... This is also the part that can be bruised,laming the animal, just as the 'frog' in a horse's hoof can. Ebbie |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: katlaughing Date: 31 Oct 00 - 03:55 PM Bah, humbug, so early for Christmas!**BG** Hey, this was a fun one to search! For a photo of real reindeer tracks,please click on Enlarged Reindeer Tracks; for some fun craft activities involving reindeer, click on Crafty Reindeer; and, for fun and games on the roads of Finland, with reindeer, click on Driving safely in the north of Finland! kat |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: mousethief Date: 31 Oct 00 - 03:56 PM I was always confused about reindeers' hooves as a child because of that obnoxious Christmas song that goes, "Up on the housetop, reindeer paws." I could never figure out if they had hooves, or paws. But wait this isn't the Mondegreen thread, but the reindeer thread. Here's some info I gathered: Reindeer hoofs are large relative to their body. This load factor and wide splaying of their hoofs, acting like snowshoes, helps them to walk on snow. The hoofs are concave and do not have pads. The edges may act as blades and hair extending under the hoofs help when walking on ice. The shovel-like design also helps with swimming and digging for forage (cratering). Their hoofs and gait enable them to travel across tundra efficiently. They have a relatively high-stepping gait combined with a trot like a cross between a horse and camel. Because they are not as long-legged as caribou, it is thought that when reindeer mingle with caribou they have a higher predation rate because they may be slower than caribou. This is from this website:clicky. There is a picture, albeit not terribly up-close, of the underside of a reindeer hoof here: clicky. Good luck!
Alex |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: Hollowfox Date: 31 Oct 00 - 04:22 PM Good ones, kat/kat and mousethief! the best I could do in hard copy was a really good photo of the hooves from the top (huge dewclaws!) in Reindeer (a New True Book) by Emilie U. Lepthien, Children's Press, 1994, and a humdrum hoofprint sketch in Encyclopedia Americana. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: wysiwyg Date: 31 Oct 00 - 08:10 PM Oh Alex! Are you kidding? In case not--PAUSE, not paws! ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: mousethief Date: 31 Oct 00 - 08:16 PM Well I know that NOW, Susan! But I was just a kid!
Alex |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 01 Nov 00 - 01:38 AM What do you mean by "obnoxious song" Mousethief? That's a good song, and it was written by Ludwig van Beethoven himself. I too wondered about the reindeer paws as a kid. I mean, why did they bring them up and then say nothing else about them? It was just another example of the basic irrationality of adults. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: paddymac Date: 01 Nov 00 - 02:01 AM In years past, indian women in southeastern US wore box turle shells (actually a small sp. of tortise) partly filled with pebbles as shakers for ceremonial dances. Nowadays it is as common to find anklets composed of "deer toes" (the outer keratenous "shell" of the hooves). The deer toes produce a softer, more muted sound than the "turtle shells". Condensed milk cans came into use after the removals to OK where the box turtles were scarce, if present at all. They are still used in some locales, but produce a harsher sound. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: mousethief Date: 01 Nov 00 - 06:28 PM "Up on the Housetop" was written by Ludwig Van? I'd love to believe you but find myself unaccountably skeptical on this. Can you show proof?
Alex |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 02 Nov 00 - 04:31 AM Is Steve still driving those reindeer from Stonall to Milton Keynes? Why do you want to look up at 'em, from underneath, Steve? I know a proctologist who's always looking up old friends but reindeer? As a decoration? I think the world needs to know. RtS |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: Steve Parkes Date: 02 Nov 00 - 06:27 AM Well, first of all, thanks for all your help folks. Even Roger. If reindeer had feet like (||) then all you'd see would be antlers sticking up out of the snow! They're very flared (like your trousers, I expect, Roger!) so they act like snowshoes. OK, this is the idea. Imagine one of those Christmas card scenes, with Father C's (Santa's over there) sleigh careering from left to right across the sky pulled by a team of reindeer. With me so far? Good. Now imagine the scene captured by a wide-angle camera lens, so the things nearest the camera look HUGE, while the rest dwindles away rapidly with the perspective. Still there? Right. A tug on the reins, and the team wheel around sharply so that they swing across towards you diagonally up and to the left, sweeping over your head, the pounding hooves just missing you. The shutter snaps, capturing the image. Now you have a photo with a B-I-G hoof right in front and just above your eyes, the great body of the animal suspended in space behind it, and in a dynamic yet graceful curve, the other animals, the sleigh, and cheery old FC (SC) himself at the back. Instead of a photograph, I propose to make a paper sculpture; i.e. a picture made of pieces of paper cut out and curved and built up in relief. But for the proper dramatic effect, my preliminary sketches suggest that the hoof needs to be at such an angle that you can just see the under-surface. I suppose I could just make it look as if it was packed with snow, but that's a cop-out, isn't it? Any questions? Steve |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 02 Nov 00 - 06:50 AM Now it all makes perfect sense! (Flares? I'm still wearing drainpipes!) RtS |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: Liz the Squeak Date: 03 Nov 00 - 05:07 AM Knocks my paper chains and glittery balls into a cocked hat then!! LTS |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: Steve Parkes Date: 03 Nov 00 - 06:12 AM You can keep your hands off my paper chains, Liz! |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: Liz the Squeak Date: 04 Nov 00 - 04:01 AM Don't you need someone to lick the ends? LTS |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: Steve Parkes Date: 23 Nov 00 - 07:59 AM Er, sorry folks, but it looks like ther reindeer won't be ready in time for this Christmas after all.I seem to be very short of spare time what with one thing and another, not to mention several other things and others too. At least I'll be able to take tiem to do a good job and not rush. I'll keep you posted with any progress. Liz, when are you free? Steve |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: catspaw49 Date: 23 Nov 00 - 09:06 PM |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: Steve Parkes Date: 24 Nov 00 - 03:15 AM ? |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: wysiwyg Date: 05 Dec 07 - 01:54 PM Half-awake, I could have sworn I saw reindeer hoof prints the other morning, when I looked out the window that overlooks the porch roof-- shaped like deer tracks common to our area but smaller and less regular in spacing as if they'd landed, stood, and then taken off-- until I saw a chunk of new-fallen snow land before my eyes as the house roof warmed up in the sunshine and started to shed some of the night's buildup. Made a mark just like the ones I'd been looking at! I wonder if this is where the reindeer-on-roof idea came from? ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: topical tom Date: 06 Dec 07 - 12:31 PM http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/caribou.html |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: JohnInKansas Date: 06 Dec 07 - 11:49 PM The Laplanders, who use trained reindeer extensively to pull sleighs, use a measurement called poronkusema which loosely translates into "reindeer piss". This is because a reindeer cannot urinate when it is pulling a sled and is prone to urinary tract clogging if it is not allowed to urinate with regularity. A poronkusema is generally 10 to 15 kilometers or about 30 minutes of riding. [Just thought you'd all want to know.] John |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: CapriUni Date: 07 Dec 07 - 11:31 PM Thanks, John. That's good info. (has anyone checked their rooves on Christmas Morning, to check for yellow snow?) |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: Donuel Date: 08 Dec 07 - 04:00 PM Every sunset when I walk the dog we encounter a family of deer. They usually give us a 20 yard separation but sometimes the buck challenges us pretty close with a loud snort. I have had to walk the dog later just so we can avoid any nasty yet unlikely encounters. People around here have taken to buying antlers mounted on their side car windows and a big red nose on their radiator. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: CapriUni Date: 08 Dec 07 - 07:27 PM Oh their side windows? Doesn't that impede visibility (and doesn't that make them a bit skewed to the red nose? Another thing to note, in your project, Steve Parkes, is that reindeer and horses have different gaits when running. One of the things that annoys me about the dime-a-dozen Santa Movies (often Grade C, often airing on TV) is that the reindeer are treated as horses that just have antlers on their heads -- even down to the body shape and hooves. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: Charley Noble Date: 08 Dec 07 - 08:50 PM The "reindeer" are certainly in evidence in and around my mother's farmhouse in Maine. There's about 8 inches of snow all around and tracks leading up to every shrub and evergreen. They've already started munching on whatever they can reach - cedar trees, yew trees, and everything in between. The only thing they don't touch are the rhododendrens. At this rate, her front lawn is going to look like a desert by spring. I guess the herd wasn't successfully thinned this year by the deer hunters. Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: GUEST,Bill the sound Date: 09 Dec 07 - 05:27 PM Is that the reindeer that ran over grandma? What a Christmas song! |
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Subject: RE: Help: Reindeer hooves From: maeve Date: 09 Dec 07 - 05:32 PM So, seven plus years later I wonder: Did Steve Parkes ever make the big reindeer project? maeve |
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