A sunny day helping Tilly…

At this time of year the entire herd is free ranging over two sites. Here on Cairngorm we have most of our adult females and calves and we keep an eye on them usually every second day. In the winter we also lease more winter grazing at our second site where all the adult males are, plus a few cows and some of our bigger male calves with their mums. Tilly monitors the goings on there every couple of days, but we go and give her a helping hand whenever she needs. It’s always a joy to catch up with the reindeer there, especially when the weather is this good! Andi went over to help check all the temperatures last weekend and she took some photos which I thought I’d stick in a blog! Otherwise our social media is mostly made up of the cows at this time of year… so here’s a good mix of the reindeer Tilly has this winter!

Jelly looking great and enjoying a peacful winter!
Frost will be 7 years old in the spring! He’s a very reliable ‘Christmas reindeer’ and was out and about at events on weekends throughout November and December. He’s now having a well-earned rest and enjoying free roaming in the hills.
Kernel was a breeding bull during last year’s rut where we would certainly not want to be this close to him! But now his testosterone levels have dropped he’s back to his usual freindly self. Phew!
Magnum with the white patchy face had his first Christmas season as an adult last year – he’s also now enoying a well-deserved break. Limpopo next to him is one of the darkest reindeer in the herd and is a yearling bull.
Mr Whippy standing out like a sore thumb when there’s no snow!
Adzuki with his head down grazing and Christie looking into the camera, beautiful as ever.
Turtle and her nephew Elbe enjoying the easy grazing.
The size of Sherlock’s new antlers are ridiculous already! Usually the males don’t grow antlers until closer to the spring but Sherlock is in such good condition he started growing them in December!
What a beautiful day to be out in the hills! Haricot closest to the camera!
2 year old Iskrem having recently cast is antlers.
Closest to the camera is Earl Grey. He’s one of three male calves at our second site along with their mums. They’re the 3 biggest calves of the year and are already starting to think they’re big bulls!

Ruth (but all Andi’s photos!)

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