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Christmas All Year Long
By Jean Lundquist
Photo by Natalie S. Knudsen
Reindeer living at the Simon Farm near Lake Crystal, Minnesota, only fly at Christmastime. That’s what Yvonne Simon tells children who ask about the flying prowess of her animals when she takes them out on display.
Yvonne and husband Daryl, with business partner Bev Herda, started Crystal Collection Reindeer in 1993 with one bull and three cows. Today they have the second largest herd of reindeer in the lower 48 states, numbering 41 animals earlier this fall. That was before last spring’s babies left the farm and another three went to make their home at the Como Zoo in St. Paul.
Yvonne says she has a degree in “Reindeerology,” which Bev describes as “not making mistakes, but learning by trial and error.” Part of her “Reindeerology Degree” was earned by learning about life on the tundra, where reindeer live naturally.
For example, once it snows on the tundra, reindeer stop drinking water. “They run across the ground like a little vacuum cleaner, sucking up snow,” Yvonne laughs. The first winter she says they wasted electricity with tank heaters and evaporated a lot of water before they learned that reindeer are not interested in water in the wintertime.
Another fun fact that Yvonne relates to people who come to store and bank parking lots, colleges, daycare centers and other places to see her reindeer, is that the only part of a reindeer’s face not covered in fur is the lips. A reindeer nose is furry, more like a horse’s nose than the nose of white tailed deer that live here. Reindeer also have fur between their toes and even on the bottoms of their hooves.
Because food is scarce on the tundra in the winter, “Their stomachs actually shrink when it’s cold, no matter how much food is in front to them in captivity,” she explains. Giant fans cool the reindeer nearly all year long. “We put blankets on the horses this time of year, but the reindeer love it,” she says of the cool late-autumn weather.
Yvonne doesn’t need to read the Old Farmer’s Almanac or hunt down a woolly bear caterpillar to predict winter weather. In early autumn this year, she just looked out on her herd of reindeer and forecasted a snowy winter.
When the reindeer grow their winter coat, a white horizontal stripe running across their sides provides them with better camouflage on the snowy tundra. It will help them blend into the landscape and hide from grizzlies, wolves “and of course, humans,” Yvonne says.
One of the most important things they learned is that reindeer can be deadly during mating season, known as “rut.” The males have six foot tall antlers that can weigh as much as 45 pounds. They are very protective of their herds, and Yvonne takes them very seriously during rut. “We let Mother Nature do her thing, and we do ours,” Yvonne explains, so gates and safety precautions are in place for feeding, watering and all other care the reindeer need.
An urban myth that usually circulates during the holiday season is that only females expecting babies have antlers. Therefore, according to the myth, all of Santa’s reindeer were not only female, but also pregnant.
That myth is completely untrue. “All the babies have antlers starting by the time they are two weeks old,” Yvonne explains. She says large antlers are a “status symbol” in reindeer herds for males and females, the older the animal, the larger its antlers, until about the age of six. Antlers are shed naturally shortly after mating season.
Crystal Collection Reindeer began as a business taking reindeer to special events, especially around Christmastime. Since its inception, it has expanded to also include the sale of the animals to other breeders, hobbyists and zoos. “The babies are sold before they are born,” says Yvonne.
The most recent addition to the business is making jewelry using shed antlers. Yvonne, Daryl and Bev create unique items including necklaces, earrings, pins, belt buckles, key chains and zipper-pulls.
The antlers are sawed into different shapes and sorted by color. Colors range from gray to white and include rust, brown, gold and a purple shade. Yvonne and Bev combine semi-precious stones and beads to make Crystal Collection Reindeer Jewelry.
Custom orders are accepted. Special colors and styles have been made for weddings and other special events. All jewelry is hand-made, highlighting reindeer antlers. “Daryl sands each piece by hand using seven grades of sandpaper to get them to a sheen,” Yvonne explains. “It’s very labor intensive and very satisfying work.”
Crystal Collection Reindeer will continue to entertain and educate people across the country this holiday season. The reindeer will be visiting people from Minnesota to possibly as far away as California. Yvonne, Daryl and Bev love to show off their animals and teach people about them.
One of the most important things Yvonne tells children is that they should leave cookies and milk for Santa, and oatmeal for the reindeer. “Reindeer love oatmeal,” she says with a knowing smile.
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