Over the past year and a half our new exhibition & paddocks have been a non-stop project. One thing we knew we wanted to achieve was to make the new and improved paddocks a haven for local wildlife.
Our mission to make a home for wildlife within the paddocks started with some bat boxes. We strapped these to some trees and snags at the edge of the woods our paddock reindeer overnight in. With bat boxes, you want to make sure they are at least 4 metres off the ground, and that the bats will have a clear flight path to enter – so no low branches blocking them. A sheltered position that gets direct sun for a good portion of the day provides the cosy conditions the bats want. Somewhere undisturbed by artificial lighting is preferred too.
Bat boxes on trees.
I put together some stacks of deadwood – these provide brilliant habitat for a whole host of invertebrates, and other small animals. These are pretty self-explanatory to make – and weren’t much effort as we have so much brash and deadwood on the ground from all the ongoing works in the paddocks, and the frequent windy weather that brings down branches from the pine woods.
Deadwood pile.
In 2024 Lotti put some house martin nest boxes on the old building – now exclusively staff residence, after seeing some house martins eyeing it up as a nesting site. This inspired us to do something with the new building. We decided it wasn’t suitable for house martins, but they aren’t the only birds suffering from a lack of nesting sites.
House martins on the old building.
We were kindly donated some swift boxes by ex-herder Jack (thanks, Jack!). Me and Cam had an exciting (terrifying) time, taking turns at the top of a very tall ladder to get these up on the side of the main building. We managed three. Maybe one day we’ll pluck up the courage to put the rest of them up! Swift boxes should be placed close under the eaves of a building, as high as possible. Swifts want a clear flight path to swoop down and then up into their nests, so it’s important there are no nearby obstacles in their way. North or east facing placements are best, to avoid the worst of the afternoon summer heat.
Swift boxes on building.
Daisy has recently been hard at work putting together a squirrel feeding station, with ropes for them to scamper tree-to-tree. Squirrel feeders are specially designed for just the squirrels to access, and you can buy special squirrel food blends that best resemble their natural diet.
Daisy’s squirrel station.Limpopo waiting for the squirrels to turn up.
As well as these specific efforts, we’ve also put up multiple nesting boxes for small birds, and sowed a wildflower bank behind our staff room which should hopefully continue to flourish and improve over the coming years.
Bird boxes. Wildflowers behind the building.
We’ve had some great wildlife sightings in the paddocks in the past year. We’ve had multiple visits from Callie the Scottish wildcat (part of a release scheme in the area), a resident badger in the woods last winter, and to my delight a beautiful male adder last summer! We also have an abundance of different bird species, small mammals like red squirrels, shrews, voles, and moles, and undoubtedly plenty of invertebrates. Hopefully our efforts in the paddocks will bring in even more, and we can make our wonderful local wildlife feel at home.
How are we nearing the end of the year?! After the Summer, the reindeer are in great condition and we have some cracking sets of antler within the herd. Christmas training has began for our 3 year old boys and there is a noticeable change in temperature with colder weather beginning.
1st of September: Morris fast asleep and using Amur as a head rest! 3rd of September: Two of our calves were preferring the company of us herders rather than the herd! 4th of September: Hopscotch looking gorgeous out on the free range.5th of September: When looking for reindeer in the bottom of our hill enclosure; great care is needed as you may walk into a huge web.7th of September: Hopscotch’s three year old daughter, Zambezi.11th of September: Heather is the most recent reindeer decoration. This is Texel, one of our 7 year old year old females.12th of September: Alba is constantly on our tail looking for extra feed now that she is back in the hill enclosure 13th of September: Latte after one of our Hill Trips. 15th of September: Mocha with cheeks full of cud.16th of September: Herder Emily-Kate with Athens on her right and Elbe on her left. This is Elbe’s first year going through Christmas training and he has absolutely aced it.17th of September: Camomile along with her mother Flax and Turtle in the background. Flax has had an exhausting Hill Trip, munching on hand feed.18th of September: Athen’s and Ob decided they didn’t want to join the Hill Trip’s today meaning i had a lovely walk out to find them. Our hill enclosure covers a vast amount of ground and it can take us a couple of hours to walk around it. 19th of September: Sweet Bordeaux in her favourite spot looking for extra feed.20th of September: Tub can often be found hanging out with us herders. Here he is walking down to see us after one of our Hill Trips. 21st of September: Sunflower has spent the summer out on the free range and is in wonderful condition. We have since brought her into our hill enclosure as we prepare for the breeding season.23rd of September: Solero giving puppy dog eyes in the hopes for extra food.
When we left off with part 1 of Emm’s visit back in March, the days had been filled with reindeer and herder antics! Enjoy part 2 below…
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I had a great time catching up with all the dogs again. With Daisy and Alicia I went on a walk with Daisy’s dogs called Echo and Asta. This visit was the first time meeting the lovely Asta who is a 4-month-old collie. We went up the hill behind Reindeer House then down through the woods and onto a path going downhill. My herding friends call it ‘the wee loop’. We saw lovely views of the mountains and Loch Morlich. Daisy was showing us where to take the best photos of the lovely views. We all had a selfie too.
Asta, Daisy, Echo, Emm, and Alicia enjoying a walk as the sun set over Loch Morlich.
One time, I was locking up the car park at the Reindeer Centre when I noticed the dogs had got out of the front garden of Reindeer House. Echo, Asta and Sanna were running around and Tiree was standing in the front garden by the open top gate deciding whether to go and join the other dogs or stay in the front garden. I managed to get Atsa and pick her up and went to find Daisy to help and we rounded up Echo and Sanna, led them into the front garden and Daisy shut the gate. Another herding job completed!
After one of the hill trips, me, Lotti and Cameron went to find River, the 10-month-old calf. The reindeer had wandered over a bit of a distance after the hill trip. Whilst we were walking over there, Winnie, the hand-reared reindeer, had stayed with us and followed us over. We walked past a group of hill walkers. We must have looked a sight, three herders with one reindeer following. Winnie went over to the hill walkers to see if they had food for her which made them laugh and then continued following us.
We found River amongst the reindeer and she was limping being a bit sore from the vaccination. Cameron put her on a head collar and then distracted her with a bag of food whilst Lotti injected her with a painkiller. We noticed Dante’s antlers, which are quite big, had fallen off overnight. Lotti walked up to the top of the hill and across the top to the site where the reindeer had been to see if she could find them while Cameron and I headed down the hill back to the reindeer van. We picked up Lotti on the other side of the hill in the reindeer van but she hadn’t found any antlers.
More herding on the free range, looking over at the wonderful hills and loch below.
When on the free-range the reindeer can end up anywhere. One day Lotti dropped me off with Fiona at the carpark and we walked up a very steep hill to find the reindeer to bring them down to a visit spot. We found them at the top of the hill very high up all sitting down and dosing. Meanwhile Lotti had brought the reindeer van to the other side of the hill to another car park where we would finish our walk. Then she walked to the visit spot to drop the reindeer food off. Fiona led the reindeer and I herded from the back. When the reindeer were getting up and beginning to move, I noticed Morris who is a 10-month-old calf still asleep and dreaming because he was twitching and had his eyes closed. Morris is leucistic (a pure white coloured reindeer) who are sometimes born deaf and we think Morris is deaf so he sometimes doesn’t hear the herd move on. I gently woke Morris up and got him moving herding at the back, I looked for any antlers on the ground which might had fallen off as we went but I didn’t find any. Lotti joined me and helped me at the back. We walked down the hill to the visit spot. The 10-month-old calves fed out of the bag then we fed the others and counted them to make sure they were all there.
The greedy calves from last spring making sure they get their fill first.
I helped at the Open Day for the Businesses. It was in the afternoon and there were hot and cold drinks, biscuits, homemade cakes and homemade scones in Santa’s Bothy where people helped themselves. The log burner was on in Santa’s Bothy too. There was bunting up and four reindeer in the paddocks who had come over the day before ready for the open day and the Easter Holidays. They were Kernal, Cicero, Iskrem and Cornetto. They were a good group of reindeer because Kernal and Cicero still had their antlers and Iskrem and Cornetto had started to grow their antlers. We could show the visitors the different stages of antler growth. Herders were there to talk to the visitors and answer questions.
Santa’s Bothy looking inviting with drinks and snacks inside during open day.
The new outdoor reindeer information signs had been put up ready in the morning. The paddocks, new exhibition and shop was open. I enjoyed talking to people and answering their questions. The day went very well so I passed on the star herders’ badge to Tilly and the team because of all the hard work they had done for the Open Day as well as with all the planning and completion of the new Reindeer Centre. They had given the reindeer herd such a positive future granting Mikel Utsi’s wish of someone successfully taking the reindeer herd on.
Tilly now repping the star herders badge.
One March trip was memorable as I went on my wettest and windiest trip ever to find the reindeer and feed them. Daisy and Andi had gone to fetch the reindeer and walk them across the hills, very high up, and they phoned down to the Reindeer Centre to stay it was too dangerous to bring visitors to see the reindeer that day and to cancel the hill trip. Amy, Hen and I went up the hill to take over from Andi and Daisy to take the reindeer to a different area in the hill. As we climbed up a very steep hill, it rained very heavily, but luckily was not as windy as Daisy and Andi had had it. I had a bag with a bucket of reindeer feed on my back and it was a bit hard going. We met Andi, Daisy and the reindeer and took over. Amy led the reindeer and, with Hen, I herded from the back. We got them to a different area and fed and counted them to make sure they were all there. It was still so windy and wet and, while I was counting the reindeer, I stepped in a deep bog again and got soaked! We then left the reindeer to it and the wind started to pick up again. Amy had to hold my arm when I did up my shoelace on a rock.
Herding the reindeer on a windy and wet day. Come rain or shine, the herders take to the hills.
On my next hill trip with Daisy and Hen to the free-range there was snow on the ground but the sun was shining. When we found the reindeer we started with the adaption talk to the visitors but suddenly a very snowy blizzard came in so we had to put our ski googles on. It was so amazing how quickly the weather changes in the mountains but the reindeer were loving the snow. After Hen and Daisy put the food out the visitors hand-fed the reindeer. Normally the reindeer then hang around after the hand-feed and the visitors can get close to them and take photos, but they started to wander off to explore the snow, led by Turtle. We had to herd them back whilst Daisy called them and it worked so the visitors got more time with them.
A fresh layer of snow to burry the heather again.
Near the end of my visit at the end of one day, we had a fire alarm test so Andi set it off. Unfortunately, the fire alarm then set off the security alarm and Andi didn’t know how to turn it off. It was very noisy!! Eventually with Cameron and Hen’s help and a phone call to the security company she was able to turn it off which was a great relief to all.
It was great to catch up with some of the calves and on one occasion I saw a 10-month-old reindeer calf Haka suckle from their mum Christie. This was unusual because they normally stop suckling at four or five months old and it was very cute to see. On another one of the hill trips, some of the 10-month-old calves and younger reindeer were running around so fast in the snow and chasing each other. They were very excited and seemed to be having lots of fun.
Haka suckling from mum Christie, so lovely to see the strong bond between cows and their calves.
The visits were often in the snow this time. When Sheena was getting the reindeer to the visit spot one morning a snow blizzard blew through and her socks got very, very wet. When she got back to the Reindeer Centre, she realised that she didn’t have any spare socks so she improvised; she turned her gloves inside out and put them on her feet! Such a clever idea. I took a photo as she then walked around the Reindeer Centre in her gloves which worked.
Sheena’s problem solved mitten socks – coming soon to our shop…
Back at Reindeer House there was a new “Brenda”, the truck which we transport the reindeer in, and the electric van had been fixed. The electric van was in the garage being fixed on my last visit. As usual there were quite a few jobs to do. I met the new hoover, which was blue, and he is called Charles. He can hoover dry floors and wet floors so I swept, hoovered and mopped the floors and outside the Reindeer Centre. There were wellies to be washed and put them up to dry then put back in the welly rack. I dusted the shelves in the shop and restocked the shop and put the green bins out. My mum says I never do any of those jobs when I’m at home!
An important job is the feed mixing in the cement mixer where I put a few ingredients, sugar beet, cattle crunch, barley oats, dark grains, molichaff, calcium powder and a bit of cooking oil to make up the reindeer food. I helped Andi in the shop with a stock count, counting adoption gift packs, magnets, pin badges, pens, glasses cleaners and 5th year adoption photos, folded up the tea towels and separated the stickers for the children’s quiz. Children get a sticker when they bring the quiz back after doing it in the exhibition and paddocks at the Reindeer Centre. There are 4 separate picture stickers; Nuii sitting in the snow, Roman as a breeding bull, Torch looking up at you and Camomile as a calf.
There are jobs to do with the reindeer in the paddocks as well with poo-picking in the morning. Letting the reindeer through to the daytime area and giving them their breakfast and later in the day, as they spend the night time in the woods, I led them through to their night time area and give them their tea.
Another beautiful snowy day in Glenmore.
It is always nice to meet new faces and, on this visit, I met Jess who was a part-time reindeer herder recently joined and her lovely dog called Maui. I also met Alicia’s lovely dog called Iona which was a new dog for me. I try to catch up also with past herders when possible and I went to see Lisette and the Highland Cows who she now works with in Fort William. She is based in Glen Nevis and it is spectacular. It was so exciting seeing Lisette and meeting her Highland Cows. Each Highland Cow had a name and we met the four youngest first who were the calves from last year. They were curious and I sat on a rock and they came over and started licking my coat and one of them even licked my face. They explore by licking things with their tongue. We then went to meet the bull and his friend but we stayed on the other side of the fence just in case!
Emm the Highland cow whisperer!
Then we went to meet the main herd. Most of them were sitting down chilling and my mum and I got to groom one of them which was very exciting. Some of the Highland Cows were pregnant one of whom was due to give birth in the following few days. Lisette gave us lots of brilliant information about Highland Cows and told us all about each one of them. After we met them, we managed a cup of tea in her garden and met her dog called Munro. It was so lovely seeing Lisette and catching up with her and seeing the Highland Cows and Munro.
Emm and Munro.
I am so excited about coming back to work with the reindeer and my special herding friends in September. I can’t wait. I am counting down the days.
The first few minutes of my stint working in March started with a bang! Daisy Kate and I got in the reindeer van to go to the hill enclosure. As Daisy drove away she forgot the drain pipe was on the ground outside Reindeer House and she drove over it and there was a loud bang and it sounded like the van floor was coming out. Daisy said “oh, no, we haven’t started well and this is going to go in Emm’s blog.” Lol. Well it has Daisy but I know you are the blog wrangler now and that it might be edited out. Lol.
Editors note: I could never cut anything from your blogs Emm. But I think what we should really be asking ourselves is who put that drain there in the first place?!…
Foxtrot, just as excited as the rest of us to have Emm back!
In March, the reindeer are normally free-ranging and we do hill visits on the free-range. When I got there, the reindeer were in the hill enclosure. The reason for that they were having their vaccinations. I helped in the shed in the hill enclosure by being a helpful set of hands, holding things. Every reindeer had their temperature done too. The reindeer who were there and who are normally free-ranging on the Cairngorms at this time of year are the females and the 10-month-old calves.
Arta, Earl Grey and Hobnob in the handling pen of our reindeer shed.
After the vaccinations, I went with Kate to Tilly’s farm. On the way we passed Kate’s house so she could quickly grab her lunch for work she had forgotton. I met her lovely cat called Kenji. We had our lunch in Tilly’s farmhouse, and I saw Tuva, Tilly’s lovely Border Terrier. We then went to the reindeer who were at the farm who were mainly males but a few females too and herded them into the shed. The female reindeer and the 10-month-old calves were being vaccinated and with the male reindeer having their temperature done. I helped by putting headcollars on them and holding them. They were all so good. I saw my 2 adopted reindeer called Scully and Zoom. I even saw Scully’s 10-month-old calf called Rumba. It was really nice seeing them all. With Kate we took the reindeer onto the hill area on the farm and fed them.
Feeding the male reindeer at the farm.
Tilly showed us the sheep and we went to get some food for the pigs which was barley and then Tilly fed the pigs and showed them to us. Some of the pigs had 1 month old piglets who were so cute. We filled some water containers for the pig’s water. The next job was to fill some bags with sugarbeet, an ingredient we use in the reindeer food mix, and put the bags into the back of the reindeer van. Whilst we were filling up the sugarbeet bags in the barn, the Red Deer who were in there were very interested in what we were doing and one was putting its head through the fence to try to get some. It was great to see all the different animals as well as the reindeer at the farm and we got around the farm on a quad bike which Tilly drove which was very exciting!
The lovely piglets at the farm.
The next morning, the reindeer were still in the hill enclosure. They stayed in there for a few days so we could keep an eye on them. I led them to a different part of the hill enclosure and called them. Andi and Amy herded them from the back. They were at the top ridge of the hill enclosure when we got there. We called them down and fed them their breakfast.
On the last day of the reindeer being in the hill enclosure, we did the hill trip at the very top of the top corridor in the hill enclosure. It was the first time I have ever done a trip in the top corridor. It was so windy and cold. After the hill trip, Andi and Kate and I sent the reindeer back on to the free-range. It was so lovely to see how excited they were as they went back into the hills.
Seeing the females back onto the free-range.
I wrote about Vienna in my last blog when I was up in October from my last visit. She was feeling sad and not wanting to interact with us and the other reindeer and wanted to be alone and not be in the herd. The vet was keeping an eye on her. But I am so glad to say she is much better and happier and back to her normal self now.
In the paddocks next to the new reindeer centre, a lot had changed since my last visit. Santa’s bothy with a log burner inside was up and running. There was a new fence up in the paddocks and a new stone wall plus a new big wooden reindeer with Roman’s antlers on it’s head! Very impressive.
We were getting the paddocks ready for an open day for the local businesses around the area planned for the weekend. I helped my herding friends by doing some landscaping in the paddocks with them. They brought me woodchip to spread across the bottom area of the paddocks and did lots of runs from trailer whilst I raked the new woodchip across the bottom area. I felt very proud of myself because I had never done this before. I also picked up twigs, stones and rocks from the ground and helped by building a cairn putting soil and mud into the new stone wall. The herders put some more fencing up in the paddocks and we moved things from the paddocks and tidied things away.
The new woodchip looking lovely in the paddock – fantastic job from Emm and the team.
The reindeer were back on the free range which is very exciting. They can wander anywhere with no fences holding them back. Fiona, Daisy and I went to find the reindeer to bring them down to the nearest visit spot. They were near the footpath so we called them and they jumped over a burn and came wandering over to us. It was very exciting because there was lots of snow. It was so special seeing the reindeer in the snow, seeing their adaptions working in their natural weather and environment. Some of them walked in a line stepping in the same footprints to save energy just like me, Daisy and Fiona. We gave them their breakfast. In some places the snow was knee deep and I fell in two snow holes and Daisy got the evidence on video! Even more snow was falling too.
Waltz leading the herd in the snow on a wintery morning.
A little later, with Amy and Alicia, I did another hill visit in the snow. People were in awe of the reindeer in the snow and it was so lovely to see their faces as they were so happy to see the reindeer in their natural environment. It continued to snow hard so I had ski googles just in case there was a blizzard. Alicia went to find a missing walkie talkie leaving me and Amy talking to people on the hill visit. Amy then led some of the visitors off the hill to the footpath as they were unsure where to go and I stayed with the reindeer in the snow.
Hobnob keeping Emm company in the beautiful snowy hills.
When Amy got back, we began to move the reindeer to a different spot. Amy led and called them and I herded them from the back. The reindeer were being so slow. Each time they would move and then stop. I kept going up and down herding them trying not to fall in snow holes and bogs again! The reindeer were all spread out by this time as we took them up and over a hill and then down a very steep slope. I followed by sliding down it on my bottom on the snow in my waterproof trousers, like a slide. It was great fun. When I told Amy what I did afterwards, she said “that’s what waterproof trousers are for”.
There was a burn to cross at the bottom and the reindeer jumped over it and then it was my turn. I managed to jump over it without incident then up the very steep slope on the other side, across the ski road and then up another hill. The reindeer were still being slow and some of the reindeer were trying to go to the left (the wrong way) so Alicia came as back up for me. Alicia led Christie and Ryvita on head collars with both Amy and I herding at the back like sheep dogs. Christie and Ryvita did their job leading the reindeer to the top of the next hill with Alicia and we then fed them while Alicia went to get the reindeer van.
At this stage Fiona called Amy to make sure we were ok and it had just turned 3 o’clock. We had been herding them for 2 hours and it was way past our lunchtime. Time flies when you are having fun! We went back to the Reindeer Centre and had our lunch and Amy surprised me with the star herders’ badge for doing so well. I felt very proud of myself.
Emm repping the badge given to star herders!
Stay tuned for the part 2 of Emm’s March visit, coming soon!…
As we all know, reindeer are truly beautiful animals. Herds running through deep snow, keeping pace with one another, crossing burns in such a fast paced grace. The sounds of their clicking heels and the moving snow all you can hear. Seeing them at sundown with their antlered silhouttes standing atop a hill, overlooking a wonderful rolling valley… What a picture to paint.
There is however a different side of majesty to the reindeer… The boop! Fury, warm noses that you just want to squish. Unfortunately for us, reindeer do not particularly enjoy having their noses squished so you’ll simply have to poke the screen of whatever device you’re reading this on instead. Each photograph has been named with a herders first reaction to the boopable nose. So sit back and enjoy our boop gallery!
Juniper. “Not so much a boop as a sloop…” Kate 2026. Holy Moley. “Blue sky, furry nose.” Alicia 2026. Cornetto. “The whole snoot and nothing but the snoot!” Alicia 2026. Juniper. “Why do I only have one ear?” Cameron 2026. Tetley. “That is such good quality.” Amy 2026. – Thank you very much from newly crowned photographer Daisy. Yukon. “His nose looks really squishable there.” Daisy 2026. Zoom. “God, I’m good looking”. Fiona 2026. Bordeaux. “No time for battles, boops to be had!” Daisy 2026. Hemp. “Schnozzle!” Amy 2026. Macarena. “Peek-a-boo!” Emm 2026. Flamenco. “Mum… I’ve got a bogey up my nose.” Fiona 2026.Morris. “A sentient marshmallow.” Kate 2026.Red Deer. “Because every deer’s nose deserves to be squished.” Daisy 2026. Ryvita. “That’s so cute!” Caroline, 2026.Dr Suess. “Does this picture make my snoot look big?…” Alicia, 2026. Ryvita. “Nom nom nom nom nom.” Caroline, 2026.
I hope you enjoyed our collection of boop shots of our lovely reindeer. I think we can all agree, they’re all pretty boopable noses!
Normality has resumed and over the last month we have welcomed our lovely visitors to our site in Glenmore and have also caught up with a few of our cows and calves. They’re all looking well and have had a good summer out on the free range!
1st of August: With the ski road still closed, the mountains are quiet, meaning that groups of our free rangers are lower down on the mountains. Here we have Sundae on the right and her yearling daughter Salsa (who is still suckling milk from her mother) on the left.1st of August: Looks like Rocket was tired of being a free-range reindeer, he made his way into our hill enclosure on his own accord. It was a rewarding morning with very little effort from myself and Daisy as we picked up Quickstep from the ski centre as he was with Sundae, Salsa and a group of female reindeer which left us at only 2 male reindeer left out on the free range after the wildfire.2nd of August: Morven looking out over the hill side, she was in another group of reindeer we found close to the ski road.4th of August: Rumba does not approve of reindeer feed sacks being used to carry tools.4th of August: Morris supervising board walk improvements.8th of August: Catching up with Ryvita and co. She has a cracking set of antlers for a 17 year old. 9th of August: Lovely Oro after one of our morning Hill Trips. 10th of August: Sundae along with someone else’s calf and Vanilla behind.11th of August: Lunch time sillies. Rowan is prepared for the sun.13th of August: I enjoyed a day out on the free range looking for reindeer and stumbled across Juniper along with her yearling, Cha Cha, who was in poorer condition than what we would like for this time of the year, so they were both brought into our hill enclosure for some TLC. We train all our reindeer to walk on a head collar, so even when we must use makeshift efforts the reindeer are comfortable.14th of August: First cow and calf back in our hill enclosure. We aren’t shocked that it was Winnie and calf! 15th of August: Orinoco grazing behind her calf.16th of August: Lotti hanging out with Texel, Texel’s yearling Waltz and Texel’s most recent calf.19th of August: Kulfi post scratch. Reindeer definitely put us to shame with how flexible they are.20th of August: It is common to see Aztec with a headdress of foliage. 23rd of August: Iskrem is the first to begin stripping his velvet. 25th of August: Brie and Calf relaxing after one of our HIll Trips. 26th of August: Over the summer, we have had two groups of swallows that have fledged from our shed in our hill enclosure. 27th of August: We use a vocal call to gather the reindeer in our hill enclosure for their food and fairly often it is heard by our free rangers. Here is Nuii with Ryvita grazing, they are currently free ranging in the mountains but heard us calling and came over to see if they could have some food too!
This May I returned to the Cairngorms as a volunteer for the second time, drawn by the potential for beautiful weather and the prospect of tiny hoof prints. Whilst there is so much I could tell you about my week, with every single day being amazing, I think there’s one day that might stay in my mind for a while.
The day before, with the free rangers.
The day began with a trip up the hill with Lotti, Daisy and Maisy (the herders have such beautiful names!). Lotti and Maisy went to check on the latest arrival, a sweet little boy calf whose identity is currently protected to allow for more formal announcements to expectant adopters.
Daisy and I went on to do a full inventory of the herd in the enclosure. This involved some facial recognition (no apps involved, just the catalogue held in Daisy’s head) and then some ear tag number checking and ticking off against the list held in the office.
Why is this done? Well, at this time of year any of the herd that has decided to go solo is likely to be a Mum-to-be and may either be ‘faffing’ (which when witnessed is just like it sounds… that day you spend getting nothing done because you just can’t settle) or might be with calf in a remote corner of the enclosure.
After identifying the location of all the herd, including a faffer in the distance, Daisy and I went into the area where Lotti and Maisy were with the newborn, as the decision had been made to move them into their own space for a little while. Now, this might sound simple but moving a worried mum and a very teeny wobbly thing with back legs that seem almost twice the length of its front legs is not an easy task. It took 4 of us… although I was mainly the emotional and photographic support.
There was a very steep hill to climb and little baby needed a little help, whilst mum was constantly checking, encouraging and teaching. There were multiple suckling stops, an occasional poop on baby’s head and lots of encouraging grunting. Daisy’s back must have hurt as she had to pick up baby on the steepest parts of the epic journey but keep the calf in sight of mother at all times, which meant adopting a stooped position and walking in the side eyeline of the adult reindeer.
Daisy with the calf. Keeping the calf only a few inches off the ground ensures the mum can always see her baby.
At one point the previous year’s calf came to chat with mum, a slightly heart wrenching moment as we all realised that the yearling must now become independent and was nuzzled out of the way to make room for the new baby.
When we got to the final destination, we all stood back to watch mother and baby and, after a quick lick of all crucial parts, baby was settled down for a rest with mum guarding him. She was such a good mum!
And so we returned to Reindeer House for a cuppa.
I then spent a little time helping mix feed, checking on the paddock, watering some newly laid turf which the 3 boys in the paddock were greedily eyeing, and sweeping the inside and outside of the centre. I checked Santa’s Bothy but he was still out….
After lunch I went with Kate and Maisy to help with the afternoon Hill Trip – a great bunch of people who told me of their road trip plans and experiences whilst I helped identify reindeer and shared the few facts I have picked up.
Whilst Kate was talking to the group, one of a nearby female reindeer’s antlers popped off in front of us all! And a few minutes later one of our visitors found another antler, but not from the same cow. This casting of antlers happens when the females are pregnant and no longer have to fight off the advances of the males. We put the antlers safely in the rucksack as sometimes adopters like to buy them.
A bag full of antlers.
We then laid out a little feed to supplement the natural feed for the new mums, which is done from a distance so as not to disturb them and their calves too much, though we did check that each little calf was standing or chose to stand while we observed.
On our way back to reindeer house we drove up towards the Cairngorm Mountain Railway car park to check on the free ranging reindeer. Lotti and I had moved them away from that area the day before, down the valley quite a distance. They had seemed happy to follow us and stay there at the time. But guess who we found crossing the road? It seems the new grass covered with salt on the verges is as tempting to a reindeer as a salty snack is to us!
Out of the van we jumped. The strategy formed was to move them upwards this time. Maisy (part mountain goat I suspect) was sent up the steep rock face to call from above, whilst Kate encouraged the herd to move out of the road.
Kate directing the reindeer traffic.
I was sent to the bend in the road to slow down and explain what was happening to oncoming traffic. “Yes, we came to watch!” was one of the responses, with most people intrigued or happy to drive slowly past and take some good holiday snaps. The free rangers weren’t being entirely cooperative and soon Daisy and Sheena came to help, with a chain of herders up the hill calling and persuading.
Maisy and Daisy are up there somewhere.
When at last the final reindeer was moved safely onwards, Sheena took our photo in the middle of the clear road until we were surprised by a camper van rounding the corner, and scattered, giggling.
Our Abbey Road style moments.
That evening, straight after work, Daisy took me for a walk with her dogs on the banks of Loch Morlich. It was a stunning evening and showed off the beautiful surroundings that Daisy is incredibly proud to live and work in.
Loch Morlich as the sun was slowly going down.
In fact Daisy had to use her fire prevention knowledge to help put out a fire that had been made illegally that afternoon and it was clear how much she cared that her local area was not put at risk. Seeing the beauty of the woodland, and experiencing the peace of the beach by the loch, I understood completely.
Editor’s Note: Sorry to hijack your blog Kathy… This wonderful blog was written back in May, before the horrific wildfire that hit Glenmore in July. It goes to show how important this bylaw is. It’s wonderful to share the reindeer’s home with so many people that love and respect the outdoors – so please help us protect it in future.
Echo and Asta go for a paddle.
We met Maisy on our way back and stopped at the Pine Marten bar for some refreshments and much needed sustenance. While the others had soft drinks, I wanted to try a local ale which went well with a very good burger with fries (my salty snack of choice)! We chatted about the day of adventure and reminisced about road trips to lands of northern lights and reindeer.
Feeling thoroughly contented, I took a small detour on my way back to my lodgings, popping up to the top to look at the sunset over the loch. And who should I see on my way up? A small group of salty snackers at the side of a car park, watched by a lady from Germany who looked at me with tear filled eyes and said “It’s just magical!”
And I agree. What a day. What a week. I can’t wait till next year….
I’m on a roll with writing blogs about some of our lovely older lassies born in 2012. This time it’s time to put Diamond in the spot light!
Diamond is well known to be one of the sweetest-natured reindeer in the entire herd. She gets a wee name check in a couple of blogs for being so lovely – see here and here!
She’s only had one calf in her entire life, a notoriously bossy reindeer, called Pagan who was born in 2016. Pagan was the exact opposite to Diamond, in both character and looks! Diamond is a beautiful silvery coloured reindeer, and Pagan was ‘normal coloured’ with big bulging eyes and tones of attitude!
Diamond was found on the free range in April 2019 with an incredibly lame left fore. Vets diagnosed nerve damage and it’s left her with a permanent limp. She’s in no pain and gets around incredibly well, using her leg like a crutch. For this reason we have never run Diamond with a bull again as we don’t want her to carry any unnecessary weight on her leg.
Pagan sadly passed away very suddenly in spring 2023, however she has several calves herself and therefore Diamond’s legacy continues with her grandcalves – Pumpkin (6), Zap (4) and Winnie (3) and great-grandcalf Lapsang (2). Hopefully there will be several new additions to the family line this spring too – exciting!
This blog is full of photos of encounters I’ve had with Diamond over the last 5 or so years, including one rescue mission! Some members of her family also feature.
2021
Diamond enjoying herself on the free range in August 2021.Diamond in September 2021 after stripping the velvet from her lovely antlers.Diamond in October 2021 after very recently casting an antler. Don’t worry, this is a completely natural process, she won’t be in pain, despite the wee bit of blood you can see.
2022
Chelsea on the right, Diamond’s mum, in January 2022. She was also a beautiful pale colour, similar in colour to Diamond.Diamond in April 2022. She’s just beginning to grow her new antlers and is looking very pale – her old winter coat has bleached to make her look even paler than usual.
On one memorable occasion Harry and I were eating breakfast at Reindeer House before work and got a phone call from the lovely staff on Cairngorm Mountain reporting a reindeer with netting stuck in their antlers. We jumped in the Land Rover and drove up to Mid Station where we were directed to the reindeer in question. All the way up we were talking about the reindeer we would least like it to be – Sod’s law it would be one of the small number of fiesty or uncatchable girls we have in the herd! We both breathed a huge sigh of relief when we saw it was the lovely Diamond. She was very pleased to see us, came straight over, ate out of the hand feed bag whilst we were able to cut her free. She had damaged her velvet a little bit so we put some antibiotic blue spray on any potential sore bits, gave her a good pile of food and left her to it! Thankfully things like this happen very rarely.
3rd of August 2022: Harry cutting the netting of Diamond’s antlers whiilst she enjoyed a good feed.Diamond sporting blue antlers – we applied an antibioic spray to the velvet to prevent any future infection. We let her off and she looked like nothing had happened, she remained out free ranging enjoying the hills.17th of August 2022: I was lucky enough to bump into Diamond again just a couple of weeks after our ‘rescue mission’ she looked fantastic and was in a small herd of other females.
2023
Diamond in May 2023 growing a new set of antlers.
Another story I have of finding Diamond on the free range is from July 2023. Cameron and I went up to see if we could find any reindeer. We did, just one, the beautiful Diamond! She was by herself which is slightly unusual for a reindeer as they are a herd animal but she seemed absolutely fine. As an older reindeer who knows the hills incredibly well Cameron and I were in no way worried about her and instead just enjoyed her company. We offered her a little bit of food and as soon as she realised we were reindeer herders she joined us on our walk. We were on our way back home so she followed us for a good couple of miles. We got some funny looks as we strolled past hill walkers who were doing double takes at our four-legged friend! When we were close to home and the footpath was getting busier with people and potentially dogs, we wandered to a nice quiet spot and left her to it with a big pile of food. What a sweetie! It is probably one of my favourite free range reindeer moments ever.
Cameron and Diamond joining us on our walk. She looks scruffy as she’s still moulting. Myself, Diamond and Cam stopping mid-walk for a wee selfie!September 2023 – Diamond free ranging in the hills, this time in a big group of other female reindeer (Mochi is on the left). Diamond is part way through stripping the velvet from the bony antlers beneath.Diamond the month later having stripped the velvet off her antlers pretty much completely.
2024
Shockingly, I don’t seem to have many photos of Diamond that I have taken myself over the last two years. So these are some I’ve nicked from other herders, and more that I’ve taken of her family members.
Andi found Diamond in a big herd, enjoying herself on the free range in July 2024 – again looking a bit scruffy as she’s mid-moult. She as beautiful as ever though!Diamond looking fantastic in September 2024. She’s obviously had a good summer as she looks very round! Pumpkin in October 2024 – Diamond’s granddaughter. Pumpkin has bags of attitude and often tells us off by waving her antlers at us if we walk too close to her.
2025
Winnie in March 2025, Diamond’s granddaughter, is so far also very sweet and much more like her granny in character than her mum Pagan, or sister Pumpkin. Time will tell if this remains the same!Lotti caught up with Diamond in July 2025. Sweet as ever, and ever hopeful for food!
2026
Diamond in February 2026 free ranging in the hills. Photo by Cameron. Scoop behind – still with his antlers!!Diamond’s family tree features on one of our brand new touch screens in the new Exhibition so you can come and learn all about her family.There’s the pretty lass on the touch screen for all to see!
We were delighted to be asked to send a representative from the Cairngorm Reindeer herd to speak at the Arctic Science Summit Week at a session focusing on how climate change was affecting reindeer herds in areas outside of the Arctic. Myself and Hen travelled to Aarhus, Denmark for the conference to take part in the session.
Caffeinating after a very early start and flight to CopenhagenHen & Andi checking in at the conference in Denmark
Also taking part in the session was Khongorzul Mungunshagai, a representative from the Mongolian Dukha herding community. Both Khongor and I spoke about how the rising temperatures are affecting the health of the reindeer, primarily through increased challenges of tick borne illness, and the potential for future changes to the plants that grow in these areas. This could affect how suitable the habitat is for the specialised digestive systems of reindeer.
Khongor tuning in from Mongolia
It was really interesting to speak to Khongor and hear about how their reindeer are facing similar challenges to our own herd. After the presentations there was a group discussion, which herders Tilly and Fiona were also able to join online, with topics including ways that scientists could better share results of studies with indiginous communities, how to better share knowledge about disease treatment for reindeer, and how to build connections between different herding communities.
Andi presenting at the session
One of the main aims of the Reindeer Trust, which was set up as a charity by chief herder Tilly Smith, is to encourage knowledge sharing with other reindeer herders, societies and associations throughout the world. Our experience has been that there are very few veterinary studies carried out on reindeer, as they aren’t an intensively farmed animal and are therefore of less commercial interest. This can make treatment of disease difficult as they are quite different to other species and it can be guesswork or trial & error for our vets when trying to work out how best to treat them.
A Sami Lavvu was set up in the conference grounds, hosting events focused on indigenous perspectives
It was an exciting opportunity to represent the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd and the Reindeer Trust and to meet with like-minded and interested people from across the world.
Excellent taxidermy display at the Aarhus Natural History Museum
We also had time to look round the local natural history museum, including their excellent display of taxidermy plus explore the local area.
Prehistoric reindeer antler in the museumViking road crossing!
Well, July has been a MONTH! At the start of the month, harness training for our male reindeer was well under way and there was still some really scruffy males around. The antler growth that we have had over the last month has been phenomenal and our male reindeer look completely different to what they did a couple of weeks prior.
Our usual July routine was interupted about half way through by the threat from a local wild fire which was spreading quickly over the mountain side. You will be glad to know that the reindeer were never in any direct threat from the fire but it gave us all a bit of a fright and on the days that us herders couldn’t get up to see the reindeer we were all walking around a bit lost, unsure on what to do with ourselves! We are so lucky to have a great team of people working with us at the Centre, a lot of which were on hand at the drop of a hat to help move reindeer.
It has been two weeks since we’ve been able to open to the public here in Glenmore but we have been able to take Hill Trips at our secondary site and we have most of the male reindeer back from their little jaunt on to the free range here on Cairngorm with a small group of reindeer still out on the mountainside enjoying the peace and quiet.
1st of July: Cappuccino and Mivvi on the morning feed line; still looking very scruffy.2nd of July : Adzuki after of our Hill Trips.3rd of July: Busby and Charleston with their Christmas harness5th of July: Brothers, Ob and Iskrem, were last in for their feed this morning- How handsome are they?8th of July: Stumbled across a leveret whilst walking through the enclosure (photo was taken with a high zoom so we didn’t disturb the little one)9th of July: You can probably tell from Mivvi’s face that it was a warm one!11th of July: It was fun to watch the reindeer emerge from the mist this morning.12th of July: Zap looking very handsome, he has a cracking set of antlers this year. 13th of July: A line of very sleek looking boys. Hemp and Yangtze are closest to the camera; it is a yearly occurence for Hemp to retain his winter coat longer than the other boys.15th of July: Part of the harness training experience is grazing with their harnesses on. Here is Elbe enjoying the early morning sun and lush vegetation.15th of July: At this point we realised that the fire had spread over Robber’s hill and was spreading quickly. 17th of July: After being given the OK to head out to the reindeer we had a police escort. It was quite a sombre drive as I had understood there would be a lot of damage done to the area by fire, but hadn’t thought about the necessary damage that would have been done in an effort to stop the fire from spreading. We owe a great debt to all of those who have worked to save Glenmore and the surounding area from fire.17th of July: Rocket leading the herd. It was a great relief to see the herd after pushing them out onto the free range. We moved the group along to an area that was less affected by smoke and checked that everyone was ok. 19th of July: In the days following the start of the fire, us reindeer herders felt a bit lost but you can always rely on there being adopt letters to be written. In the back ground you can see a sleepy Rowan, who is my fiery Collie.20th of July: A late night mission to locate some of the male reindeer that had been pushed out of the enclosure as a precaution – here are Mivvi and Morris.20th of July: This was Mivvi, Morris and I’s view (looking down towards Loch Morlich) whilst walking back down towards the hill enclosure.28th of July: Ob with the herd lying behind him.29th of July: Being ruminants, reindeer will regurgitate food to further chew it. Here is Yukon with cheeks full of partially digested food or as we know it, cud.30th of July: A fence being in the way is no match for Choc-ice when there is food involved.
