We'd never attempt to steal or lessen Rudolph's thunder, nor could we, given his leadership skills, willingness to take positive risks, and that particularly glow-bright facial feature that tends to get mentioned as often as his very name.
But Santa's other reindeer do deserve their day. What, for example, do we know of Vixen? Or Donner? Is Prancer fond of sunsets, naps, and does he consider himself a morning or night reindeer?
You see the quandary: Rudolph takes the lion's share -- er, reindeer's share -- of our reindeer-directed love. We can, however, spread some of our reindeer-based attentions around, at the LA Zoo, when it welcomes some of Kris Kringle's finest team members from Friday, Nov. 28 through Sunday, Jan. 4.
It's billed as "the only opportunity to see live reindeer in Los Angeles," which makes sense, since Santa probably needs most of his best players at his side come December.
As for this year's popular Reindeer Romp? Look for a quartet of beautiful animals -- Jingle, Belle, Noel and Velvet are their names -- both during the daytime as well as at the LA Zoo Lights after-sundown event.
The antler-riffic beasties shall also open "special behavioral enrichment gifts" on the weekends, so check in with zoo staff for more details if you want to see that action. Because watching a human open a gift? Pretty sweet, yes, but watching an animal get a good-for-him toy ups the awww factor by twelve, at least.
And after you learn more about Jingle, Velvet, Noel and Belle, perhaps you'll ponder what Prancer and Cupid are like. Do they like to be scratched behind the ears? Do they like to munch hay? All important questions for the reindeer enthusiast.
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Again, we'd never try to out-shine Rudolph's big glow, but knowing our reindeer -- both of the Santa and here-among-us variety -- has a bit of magic to it, yes, but also straight-up care and interest in these fellow furry earthlings.
