Dashing Through the Snow...

This week, I am going to move away from your typical pet news and look at an animal that's a little more...exotic.

Reindeer, one of the best animals in my book, seem to fit more into the same family as cows when they're domesticated. In fact, this story has to do with reindeer as they relate to cows or, more specifically, bulls.

In the tradition of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, a running of the reindeer was recently held in Anchorage, Alaska. People dressed up as carrots and lichen, which is like catnip for reindeer, and some taped bull's-eyes to their backs and lined up to run through the city.

According to MercuryNews.com, in order to prepare the reindeer to run, they were taken through the course a few times and were given apple slices as a reward.

When it came time to run, no one expected the reindeer to run with such gusto. As soon as the crowd took off, the reindeer followed in hot pursuit hoping to find treats amidst the runners. The reindeer easily overtook the runners by the midpoint of the race. To see the run for yourself, you can watch a clip on MSN Video.

The best irony, of course, was the fact that, while the reindeer where running, they were running past vendors selling reindeer hotdogs and other reindeer dishes. Strangely enough, the event increased the sales for these vendors.

(Picture courtesy of KATU.com)