Editing Reindeer (section)

=== Hooves ===
The reindeer has large feet with crescent-shaped cloven hooves for walking in snow or swamps. According to the Species at Risk Public Registry ([[Species at Risk Act|SARA]]), woodland<ref name="SARA2014" />
{{blockquote|"Caribou have large feet with four toes. In addition to two small ones, called "dew claws," they have two large, crescent-shaped toes that support most of their weight and serve as shovels when digging for food under snow. These large concave hooves offer stable support on wet, soggy ground and on crusty snow. The pads of the hoof change from a thick, fleshy shape in the summer to become hard and thin in the winter months, reducing the animal's exposure to the cold ground. Additional winter protection comes from the long hair between the "toes"; it covers the pads so the caribou walks only on the horny rim of the hooves."|source=SARA 2014}}

Reindeer [[Hoof|hooves]] adapt to the season: in the summer, when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become sponge-like and provide extra traction. In the winter, the pads shrink and tighten, exposing the rim of the hoof, which cuts into the ice and crusted snow to keep it from slipping. This also enables them to dig down (an activity known as "cratering") through the snow to their favourite food, a [[lichen]] known as reindeer lichen (''[[Cladonia rangiferina]]'').<ref>{{cite web |quote=In the winter, the fleshy pads on these toes grow longer and form a tough, hornlike rim. Caribou use these large, sharp-edged hooves to dig through the snow and uncover the lichens that sustain them in winter months. Biologists call this activity "cratering" because of the crater-like cavity the caribou's hooves leave in the snow. |page=5 |url=http://www.taiga.net/projectcaribou/pdf/allaboutcaribou.PDF |title=All About Caribou |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130706171742/http://taiga.net/projectcaribou/pdf/allaboutcaribou.PDF |archive-date=6 July 2013 |url-status=usurped |work=Project Caribou}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=RY.0246-32: A reindeer uses its hooves to clear away snow to reach lichen at its winter pastures. Yamal, Siberia |url=http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk/stories/avkas/ry0246-32.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205212234/http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk/stories/avkas/ry0246-32.htm |archive-date=5 February 2012 |website=Arcticphoto.co.uk |access-date=16 September 2011}}</ref>