We lived in Phoenix Arizona in 1968. This event really happen! I wanted to keep the proof in a baggie, in the freezer, but my momma said, “No!”
There Really Are Reindeer
One Christmas morning, back in my youth—I remember it well
My brother told me a most wonderful tale.
It seems, Santa doesn’t always land his sleigh on the roof
If one of the reindeer has a sore on his hoof.
For outside in our yard—there in the grass, lay all the evidence.
I wouldn’t have believed it, but there were the hoof prints!
And most amazing of all—I’m telling the truth, a pile of poop.
Seems Santa had forgotten his scoop.
We rushed into the house to tell Mom–how excited we were
“There really are reindeer. Now, we know it for sure!”
Phyllis A. Still 
Yes, there are reindeer, and Santa has a sleigh. One Christmas morning, when our kids were small, we went out onto the deck on Christmas morning and saw sleigh tracks and hoof marks on the snow-covered roof of our house. The hot chocolate, cookies, and carrots we left by the tree were also consumed, with only a few cookie and carrot crumbs remaining, as if eaten hastily.
Real reindeer exist in northern Scandinavia, northern Asia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. In N. America, they are called caribou. Stories that take place in Canada will sometimes talk about caribou herds.
https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/do-reindeer-live-outside-the-north-pole
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love your memory. What better proof than poop 😉
I suppose if it went through petrifaction, “the process by which organic material becomes a fossil through the replacement of the original material and the filling of the original pore spaces with minerals,” you could keep it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, yes, they are real! One Christmas Eve we heard sleigh bells and Daddy found a basket of fruit on the front porch Santa had dropped off early so we could have a snack before bed!
LikeLike
Aw, what a sweet memory.
LikeLike