KCDHH Coffee Chat

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Transcript:

CROM: Hello! I’m Persimmon Periwinkle, but you can call me PP. I’m the Head Elf of Operations here at the North Pole!

SHANNON: And I’m Peppermint Partridge, I’m the Head Elf of Winter Weather! But you can call me Peppy!

CROM: Yeah! We’re excited to let you know we just finished an interview with the owner of the Jessen Reindeer Ranch. That’s a training facility for reindeer to fly with Santa!

CHRIS: Ho, ho, ho! Hi, I’m Chris and this is my daughter Madi and we are two of Santa’s professional reindeer trainers. And today we’re going to take you on a tour of the Jessen Reindeer Ranch.

PEPPY: That’s right! We sat down with Chris Jessen, who raises fine reindeer like these!

Check out this fun interview!

CROM:

How do you train those reindeer to fly with Santa?

CHRIS: That is an awesome question! So Santa is the only one that can actually make the reindeer fly. He has the magic dust he sprinkles on their backs, but for us to train then to fly, we run with them quite a bit. We train them to jump, and we really train with lots of play. A lot of flying is just the playfulness of the reindeer.

PEPPY:

What do reindeer eat?

CHRIS: Reindeer in the wild, they eat lichen and moss. Lichen’s that kind of crazy little plant that grows on trees and on the ground. They also eat tree leaves and some grasses. Here at the reindeer ranch, we feed them a variety of different foods that simulate the lichen and moss they eat. So we feed them for reindeer food, we feed them corn, and some oats, and some beet pulp. We feed them leaves from trees, and we also feed them alfalfa and for special treats we do feed them candy canes. They absolutely love candy canes!

CROM:

How do you choose which reindeer will ride with Santa on Christmas Eve?

CHRIS: So Santa makes that decision when he lands at our property, when one of his reindeer gets tired. He’ll get out of the sleigh, he’ll walk out into the pasture, and the reindeer that’s really excited to come over. Last year was Savannah, she ran over to Santa and showed that she was excited and probably jumped around a little bit. I wasn’t there but that’s how Santa makes a decision to see who’s doing really well. Throughout the year, Santa sends his elves to check in on the reindeer and see who’s doing really good and who’s ready to be part of the team that night.

PEPPY:

How do reindeer antlers grow? Do they grow every year or over the course of their full lifetime?

CHRIS: That is an awesome question. So both the girl and boy reindeer grow antlers and they lose their antlers every year. The girls lose their antlers in April and May after they calve, and then they grow them til September and the boys, they grow their antlers from November when they have lost their antlers through September. So every year they grow a brand-new set. The girls can grow about 30 pounds of antlers and the boys grow up to 60 pounds of antlers!

CROM:

What are your reindeer’s names? Oh, I know-Das-

CHRIS: We have two boys. One of them is named Sven and one is named Oscar.

Then we have 5, actually, 7 girls. We have Tinks, Clare-Claire, Savannah, Holly, Joy, Winter, and Wishes!

PEPPY:

What happens if the reindeer have to go to the bathroom while pulling Santa’s sleigh?

CHRIS:

Ah- I believe they take care of all their business way before they get hooked up to the sleigh. Reindeer are not like a lot of animals that have to go a lot. In fact, in a four-hour period they might just go one time. That’s about it.

CROM:

Say one foggy evening, a kid happens to run into a reindeer. What is the most appropriate way to greet the reindeer?

CHRIS:

Reindeer, just like any other animal or say a dog or a cat or anything that might be strange if you’re coming up to it and it doesn’t know you very well, you want to be very cautious and quiet. Oftentimes I always tell people to put their hand down, like this so that the reindeer or whatever animal you’re approaching doesn’t think you’re a bear, because sometimes if you approach them like this, it’s kind of “claws up”. So I always tell them to approach animals like that and just be really quiet and calm. Most reindeer are not going to want to be pet. So if you do see a reindeer, you probably want to keep your distance and just admire them.

CROM: Thank you so much for the wonderful information!

PEPPY: We’ll be looking out for your reindeer in the sky on Christmas Eve!

CHRIS:
Awesome. Thank you guys. Have a great night. Merry Christmas to you.

CROM and PEPPY: Merry Christmas to you too!