- I'm Coyote Peterson and I know we're all getting
really excited for the holidays.
So today I've got an extra special surprise.
Get ready to meet Blitzen the baby reindeer.
You ready for your morning walk?
Oh yeah, he's ready to go.
Now you're gonna go back that way, whoop,
here we go.
(galloping footsteps)
Keep us in sight, just ooh, watch your cameras.
Whoa! (soft chime music)
That's a good boy, oh and there he goes, whoops!
(pounding drumbeat, wild jungle rhythmic music)
Over the past few months we have released
several episodes that were filmed in Haines, Alaska
at Steve Kroschel's Wildlife Sanctuary.
I had the chance to splash around in a river
with a mink,
got a GoPro camera incredibly close to a weasel,
palled around with a baby red fox,
and even went face-to-face with a wolverine.
We had pretty much finished filming when Steve asked
if we wanted to meet an orphaned baby reindeer.
The answer was obvious, as we simply couldn't pass up
sharing this adorable animal with you,
just in time for the holidays.
(galloping footsteps crunching)
Yum, yum, yum, yum. (grunting growl)
All right, look at that.
Now this is a baby reindeer.
In the wild, this is more known as a caribou.
But a semi-domesticated caribou is
properly referred to as a reindeer.
These animals have been used to pull sleighs
up in the north, and of course to control a sleigh
you need to have reins, hence the name reindeer.
And you see right now Blitzen's just feasting away
on this fireweed.
A baby like this needs to consume a ton of food.
They grow rather quickly and you can see it,
even at this age he already has his antlers growing in
and they're so soft right now,
just covered in this fluffy velvet.
Yeah, and he's had a lot of plants to eat already
this morning, and he's starting to get a little sleepy,
almost time for his nap.
And like most babies, he spends a lot
of time during the day resting.
And this is really comforting to him right now,
just a little scratch on the side of the neck.
Oof, and you've got to watch your eyes
next to those antlers, though.
Fortunately they're still pretty dull,
so you take a hit in the face and I'm gonna be okay.
And I don't want to talk too loudly,
obviously I'm real close to the animal's ears
and they have very sensitive hearing.
They need that sensitive hearing to be able
to hear any sort of predator like a bear
or a pack of wolves coming out
when they're up there on the tundra.
(wolf howling)
That would be a wolf.
Ooh, ooh yeah. it's got the caribou out here.
Don't worry Blitzen, we're not going to take you
by that wolf. (howling yowls)
(Christmas chime music)
I may say that I am walking a reindeer,
but the truth is the reindeer's walking me.
You see that?
Now we're gonna go back that way, woo,
here we go.
Oh, that's the treat right there, huh?
Yum, yum.
- [Mark] So, what is that?
- This is called Old Man's Beard.
And it's called Old Man's Beard 'cause you can see
it hangs down from tree limbs
and it looks just like a beard.
And this is the first time that Blitzen has ever had
Old Man's Beard and he seems to absolutely love it.
And in the wild, a tree branch would be hanging down
like this, you see that has the Old Man's Beard hanging
off the branch, and the caribou would come up to feed,
just like this.
This is completely natural for this animal right now
and you see, he's just enjoying a breakfast
of Old Man's Beard.
I'll kind of peek through here for you.
Hey, how's that breakfast Blitzen, pretty good?
Okay, I'm kind of in the danger zone here,
right underneath the reindeer.
But I wanted to get a close look at these hooves.
You see how they're crescent-shaped like that
and spread wide apart?
That is so that their hooves are like snowshoes.
Now, when they're out there walking on the tundra,
that helps them stay on top of the snow.
Bet you never thought you'd see me underneath
a reindeer, did you?
All right, let's go back up here by its head,
I'm kind of in the danger zone here.
Now, let's take a look at this animal's coat.
You see how soft and fluffy it is right now?
That's because he's actually shedding out
his winter coat and his summer coat is growing in,
so soft and fluffy.
Ooh look at that, his little nose just rested
on my arm and I think he's had enough food this morning.
He's probably getting tired.
Now babies like this do sleep quite a bit.
He may be getting tired, I can feel
his head getting heavy on my arms.
Aw, what a cute deer.
Now Blitzen's eaten a lot of plants this morning.
Let's see if he would like some milk.
Oh, look at that.
Yeah, clearly he's into milk.
And one really interesting thing
about most caribou species is that both the males
and the females grow antlers.
Now the males have a much larger rack
than the females and eventually.
Oh, oh, careful, look at how hungry he is.
Eventually Blitzen's antlers will grow
into this enormous, beautiful rack.
Wow, look at how fast this reindeer drinks milk!
That is crazy. (slurping, smacking)
Yum, yum, yum, yum, oh my gosh.
You are good at chugging milk,
that is one thing for sure.
I can see why Santa probably doesn't bring
you into the house, you'd eat all
of his milk and cookies, wouldn't you?
And just like that, we have run out of milk.
So, everybody wanted to know why I grew a beard
before Alaska.
I figured I'd fit in perfectly, and as you can see
this reindeer loves, oh burped right in my face.
This reindeer loves cuddling up against my beard.
(snoring, snorting)
Oh, he's going to sleep right now, I think.
(snoring, snorting) (Christmas chime music)
Well, how excellent was this?
Spending the morning hanging out with a baby reindeer.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave,
stay wild, happy holidays.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
(soft jazz music with jingle bells)
If you thought Blitzen was the cutest animal
in Alaska, make sure to go back and watch
as I play tug of war with a baby red fox.
And don't forget, subscribe, so you can join
me and the crew on this season of Breaking Trail.
Can I have some?
(chime and percussion Christmas music)
(munching and smacking)
It's very musty tasting, you know that?
And it's sticking to my lip.
(spitting) Uh, that's gross.
(growling, howling, birds chirping)