European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 23, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Re the most lovable Critter anywhere som 34,000 of put inhibit the Ingfen Arctic Region of Norway set Dan Fin herding it the  by Hugh a. Mulligan associated press his time of year you la find me everywhere. Even on my Home turf the North country i be become a profit with Honor. Like today in Stockholm s old City i m the chef s special on the dinner menu at the posh Victory hotel Restek Rudolph. Across town the food Hall in the a Lens department store is offering samples of Renk Lamma. A delicious smoked sausage on Barley bread coated with horseradish butter. In Chic boutiques All Over Scandinavia you la find me in a wide selection of sleeping bags gloves parkas moccasins Snow boots with curled toes primitive masks and of course on an endless array of Christmas cards and tree ornaments. Finn air has Holiday flights to Tormanen up near the Border with the soviet Union so Good Little boys and girls can visit kor vaturi the Cave of the ears where father Christmas overhears petitions for presents under the tree. Now the swedes Are Selling condominiums to the Cross country ski set in my Frozen stomping ground above the Arctic Circle. Would you believe one of my mates got hit in the Rump with an Orange Golf Ball the other Day while shovelling away the Snow with his Antlers to Munch on some succulent lichens in Taiwan and Tokyo these Antlers Are pounded into a powder and sold As an aphrodisiac a love potion. Well Why not at this festive time of the year. I m just about the most lovable Critter anywhere. In Case you Haven t guessed i m a Reindeer nature s noblest and perhaps most useful beast. There Are a million like me. Maybe More counting herds exported to Alaska and Canada. A few christmases ago the headline writers were composing our epitaph. That nuclear reactor explosion at chernobyl spread cesium-137 All Over our grazing territory which stretches from Siberia s Kola Peninsula across Finland to Sweden and Norway. Experts grimly predicted that our Winter food Supply of lichens which have no roots and take All their nutrients from the air would be radioactive for 20 to 30 years. To keep our herders from going bust the governments of Norway and Sweden bought up All contaminated Reindeer meat at 1985 prices dyed it a Bright Blue sold some to the Mink farms and buried the rest. Can you imagine me beloved of kids around the world winding up in a nuclear waste dump not to worry. Here it is another Christmas and Reindeer meat inspected and approved is Back in the gourmet shops. And we re still going Strong on the Hoof As we have been since the Stone age when they painted our picture in shocking Pink on the Wall of that Cave in France. In 40 centuries we Haven t changed much still 3 /2 feet High about the size of a Shetland Pony and weighing in at about 300 pounds. Our distinguishing features Are wide deeply Cleft hoofs for skimming across marshes and Snow Fields close haired air filled fur to keep out the cold a hairy muzzle that serves As a ski mask and these velvety Antlers sweeping upward backward and Forward again into Broad tips of Moose like proportions. No other Branch of the Deer family equips both males and females with this elegant headgear. None lives so far North where the snows Are deepest and food so scarce. To brag a bit i can run faster than a horse outdistanced a pack of wolves float like a Cork swim the swiftest Rivers Trot 15 Mph with 90 pounds on my Back while pulling a sled loaded with 300 pounds and cover 40 to 50 Miles a Day in a blizzard. Over the years the poets painters and songwriters have been generous with their Praise if not always accurate. Like when Clement Moore wrote in his classic a visit from St. Nicholas when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a miniature Sleigh and eight tiny  actually Only seven Reindeer Are hitched to an Akbar the sled loaded with grandma and the baby or maybe piled High with tents blankets and cooking pots for the Spring and autumn migrations that cover hundreds of Miles. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came continued the poet. A bit of poetic License there. Eagles Are a menace. They can snatch up a Newborn calf quicker than a hungry Bear emerging from his Winter hibernation. But wolverines Are the real enemy. These cunning cousins of the weasel sneak up behind a Reindeer burrowing under the Snow and pounce on his Rump. Worst of All Are the mosquitoes midges and Gad lies that sting us on the muzzle causing colds and congestion and Plant their eggs in the soft flesh under our eyelids weakening our already poor vision. No wonder we head for the Cool mountains in summer. The Christmas card artists got it right however about our herders being Short Stocky cheerful Folk who Wear curly toed boots filled with grass tall pointy hats with funny flaps and Bright Blue not red parkas elaborately trimmed with fur embroidery ribbons and sometimes Silver. Like the sled Driver in that poem they do have Cheeks like roses and a nose like a  you d glow like that too it you dashed out of a night 50 below into a Sauna 220 above Zero. Lapps or Laplander these rugged people Are still widely called in Sweden but in Norway and Finland their official name is Sami. They have their own language of Remote hungarian and finnish origin with 120 words for Snow and 400 for Reindeer. Why not we Reindeer Are their whole life culture and history. Carbon tests on petrified slats found in Tundra bogs show they have been chasing us on Cross country skis since at least 2500 . We Are their horse sheep cow and general store available in one portable compact Model. Tents blankets boots parkas leggings sleeping bags Are taken out of our hide. The meat Strong and flavorful can be jerked smoked boiled or barbecued. Reindeer blood pancakes Are an acquired taste. Our milk is four times Richer than a cows great for butter and cheese. Bowls spoons and fish Hooks Are fashioned from our Antlers. Our sinews contribute harnesses Boot laces lassos and thread spun on looms fashioned from our Bones which also provide knife handles pack Racks and the baby s Kermse or Cradle All held together with glue from our hoofs. There really Are Reindeer games like you hear about in that Rudolph song. With Dice and markers made from our toe Bones the Herder s family gathers in the glow of the tent stove for a Board game called Wolf taboo a variant of chess in which the Wolf gobbles up some Reindeer pawns until he finally is cornered. Reindeer Aren t driven like cattle in the american West. We Call the tune. Instinct dictates where and when Well mosey off to Richer pastures. The Herder and his family just follow along listening for the Jingle Bells around our necks and the hollow clicking noise the Herd makes on the move. Tendons stretching across our toe Bones make a sound like of a Bunch of schoolboys cracking their Knuckles. Before Norway established Border controls in 1912, Reindeer used to roam from the top of the Gulf of bothnia where Finland and Sweden meet All the Way to the Atlantic. Herding has changed dramatically in recent years. Logging operations in Finland nato bases in Norway and pow m the Folk it Alk rep the tit i Kilchai Star to hat your Mot Brec to who liter. I l was the tar and Hun t Tont rein mor Odd r total Stric the thro Whit a nov Chri Brae we nun fro to Hort the mor it at to Toal Page 14 the stars and stripes saturday dec emf