I read on Facebook this time last year about a dangerous new addition to a Christmas tradition. People have been putting something out for Santa to eat and drink on Christmas Eve for a long time, but recently feeding the reindeer has become part of it. After all, why not? You could say that they are doing all the hard work racing through the sky, dealing with the parking problems while Santa just does the deliveries and consumes vast amounts of mince pies and sherry. You could leave a carrot for Rudolf, but what about the other eight? So stores have been selling wee bags of "reindeer food" which are actually sweets. Children sprinkle these outside but instead of the team eating them the local wildlife has been snacking, and apparently dying because of it.
You could opt not to feed the reindeer but a better idea is to put something else out instead that will actually help the environment. I am a little late perhaps but maybe not, as a lot of plants are still flowering or have gone over leaving seeds. Collect these up (or buy seeds) and have a little fun with them.
This is the actual size and will print out on one A4 sheet of good quality stiff white card. It is a good size to hold a fair few seeds but if you want a smaller version you could resize it. Cut it out (a knife and ruler for best results) and score lightly along the dotted lines. Fold and glue the side tab and base; to hold the top down you could use a small round sticker or you can glue this as well for extra security particularly if this is going to be mailed. Please be aware that there are laws preventing the sending of some seeds into some countries; you will need to look this up if you want to mail this out of the country. Gluing down the top also makes it look more professional.
Inside go the seeds and these can be sprinkled on the ground wherever you want. The bed will first need to be raked and weeded and these do need to be the type of seeds that you can sow directly into the ground at this time of year, not the type you have to sow into seed trays first. This is what it says on the back:
A bit small here but you get the gist. All the fun of feeding the reindeer plus knowing no animal will be harmed and then the joy of the flowers next year. Of course they will need to be the type that pollinators like; a list of these can be viewed
here for butterflies and
here for more general pollinators including bees. You can also buy seed mixes and seeds especially aimed at pollinators from many seed merchants.
Do reindeer eat seeds? Well, they certainly don't eat sweets!
