IT'S no wonder Rudolph and his reindeer pals can fly: scientists say they have found that the animals regularly eat magic mushrooms to get high.

Scientist Andrew Haynes says reindeer deliberately seek out the mind-bending fungi to escape the monotony of dreary, long winters, Britain's The Sun newspaper reports.

Writing in the respected Pharmaceutical Journal, Haynes said: "They have a desire to experience altered states of consciousness."

"For humans a common side-effect of mushrooms is the feeling of flying, so it's interesting the legend about Santa's reindeer is they can fly," he continued.

Haynes also said that in some parts of the world herdsmen drink reindeer urine to get high themselves.



Originally published as Bored reindeer eat magic mushrooms