Can You Legally Own Reindeer In Idaho?

Story time.

I fully had the intention of whipping together an article about how funny it would be if you could actually own reindeer and keep them on your property here in Idaho. Wouldn't that be hilarious?

So. Um.

You can. I was surprised too.

Can you legally own reindeer if you live in the state of Idaho?

Well, yes, but holy crap the hoops you'll have to bound through if you want to make this a reality. If you really, truly want to keep reindeer as pets or...whatever...you're going to need to complete an Application for Possession of Deleterious Exotic Animals. Sure, the name sucks terribly, but that doesn't mean you don't need one. You very much do.

Per Google AI, reindeer, elk, and fallow deer are actually considered domestic livestock in the state of Idaho, so. There's that.

Are you suggesting you should actually keep reindeer on your property? No. No we are not. It seems like a lot of work, and they probably poop a whole lot. Just sayin'.

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If you feel like traveling across the country, you can actually visit real-life reindeer farms in person. Like, you can get up close with reindeer and just...hang out with them. The kind of stuff we thought only happens in movies.

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So, what if we renamed Santa's reindeer, using streets around Boise as the inspiration? On paper, it sounds like a terrible idea, sure. However, once we started going, we ended up having some fun with this.