In a twist of fate, the reindeer got run over by Grandma.

But then it gets weird. Like, lay-off-the-eggnog weird.

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Anthony Chapman, an employee of the Clifton Mill, works on a Christmas display atop Santa's workshop at the Clifton Mill in Clifton, Ohio on Monday, Nov 20, 2006. The eight stuffed deer move their heads and their tails and are hooked to a sleighClick to enlarge

The deer, with seven of his buddies, got fitted with robotics and brings holiday cheer to kids at Clifton Mill.

Your wondering eyes don't deceive. That's a miniature sleigh and eight tiny, dead deer.

"I know that sounds sick," confessed Anthony Satariano, whose family has turned the area landmark into a winter wonderland for almost two decades.

With 3.6 million Christmas lights a-blazin', you might have overlooked that the moving deer atop Santa's workshop once were living, breathing wildlife.

"It's like an extreme decoration," Satariano explained. "It really seals it for young ones."

Satariano found Wisconsin-based Custom Robotic Wildlife in a magazine.

President and taxidermist Brian Wolslegel mounts hides on foam and rigs up parts to move with batteries and computer boards. (Just flip the switch.)

The end product, with subtle movement of the head and tail, could hold its own against anything at Bass Pro Shops — or Chuck E. Cheese's.

"We just tinker around with it 'til we get it right," Wolslegel said.

The real-life decoys are used by law enforcement to catch poachers.

"A lot of law enforcement guys want a deer that bends down, eats, then comes back up," Wolslegel said. "That hide, over time, will get hard and rigid. We can't make that motion."

So what about the ability to dash away, dash away, dash away all?

Satariano couldn't resist using the white-tailed robo-deer to pull Santa's sleigh — even though, according to the DNR, white-tailed deer can't fly like reindeer.

"We called and said, 'I know you're going to laugh at us, but we'd like to order eight of them,'" he recalled.

The eight deer ran about five grand.

While Satariano said the deer were road kill, Wolslegel said they rely mostly on hunters to provide the hides.

One thing, however, is all but certain.

"Of course, Santa is real," Satariano said.