Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and he left one of his reindeer behind.
Clear Creek County animal-control officer Patricia Mount could hardly believe the report Monday that “Vixen,” one of the famed team of nine reindeer used to pull Santa’s sleigh, was standing in an abandoned horse trailer in Idaho Springs.
“It was kind of interesting getting called out on Christmas Day for a reindeer,” she chuckled.
The North Pole being out of her jurisdiction, Mount started calling around locally to determine where it belonged, singling out a likely suspect: Bill Lee and his Santa’s Southern Reindeer Ranch in the Rockies, just up the road on the grounds of Laughing Valley Ranch.
“There aren’t too many people who own reindeer in the county,” she said.
Lee could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but for years he has won acclaim as the region’s best Santa Claus, keeping the small herd of reindeer.
“Santa’s reindeer always draw a crowd of children and adults,” he wrote on his website. “Almost everyone leaves not only with a smile, but extra knowledge gained from our educational presentations that detail reindeer adaptations for survival in an arctic environment. Some lucky visitors may even learn a few of Santa’s enchanted secrets such as how reindeer are able to fly on Christmas Eve.”
Flying may be one thing, but riding in a trailer – especially after last week’s blizzard – is clearly another. Apparently one of Santa’s helpers had left Vixen and the trailer temporarily in the parking lot of the Clear Creek ranger station after failing to negotiate the ranch’s driveway.
“He had food and water in the trailer, so he was fine,” Mount said. “We would have just housed the reindeer in a facility until we were able to get him hooked back up with his owner, but then I got the call.”
Lee had received her phone message and was on his way back to pick up the trailer.
And so, a couple of hours after the first report of an abandoned reindeer, the team was reunited, and roll call was taken: Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, Donner and Blitzen and, of course, the most famous reindeer of all.
