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       #Post#: 782--------------------------------------------------
       Finnish reindeer now have glowing antlers to protect them from
       cars 
   DIR By: AGelbert
       Date: February 23, 2014, 12:17 am
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       Finnish reindeer now have glowing antlers to protect them from
       cars
       By Sarah Laskow
       Like deer in the American Northeast, reindeer in Finland are
       prone to walking onto the road and causing accidents. But,
       unlike wild American deer, Finnish reindeer actually belong to
       reindeer herders, who’d like to keep them alive. So the herders
       are painting their deer’s antlers with a coating that makes them
       glow in the dark. Bonus: Now ANYONE can guide the sleigh!
       Gizmodo explains:
       The idea of outfitting reindeer with reflective devices has been
       around in Scandinavia for years. There, reindeer are bred and
       kept on farms much like cows are in the United States. So the
       reflectors aren’t just helping keep the reindeer safe, they also
       help herders keep track of their animals. However, as car
       accidents involving reindeer have been on the rise, the Finnish
       herders are taking it to the next level with this new coating
       idea.
       And a Reddit commenter explains why this is necessary at all:
       Reindeer are not hunted, but while they roam freely for most of
       the year, they are owned like cattle. … In addition to danger
       they pose on the roads as they do not fear vehicles, the herders
       have an economic incentive to keep the stock alive. If you drive
       in Lapland, you cannot avoid seeing these animals around
       roadsides in large flocks. They cause traffic jams just by
       chilling on the road as well. In the wilderness of Lapland there
       are few street lights and the nights are tremendously long. I
       mean polar night.
       Reflective coating sounds like a pretty good way of dealing with
       this — as long as people are alerted of it first. Because if I
       were driving along in the dark of night, and I saw a bunch of
       glow-in-the-dark antlers creepily casting light on a herd of
       reindeer, I might be so freaked out I’d forget to stop.
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