A lot of our work focuses on our herd here on Cairngorm, but a lot of you will know that we have a secondary site, and it is always lovely to get out that way to help Tilly! Recently Sheena and I went on a free-range mission to move a group of reindeer that were just out of our boundary line. The group of reindeer we were moving included some older girls and three young bulls, I have compiled some pictures of the outing for the reindeer’s wonderful adopters. The group were initially grazing in two separate groups but once we had called them, the reindeer joined up and made their way up hill towards us.
Distant girls coming to our call.The young bulls – Nile, Amur, and Choc-ice.Jenga with two of our more cautious girls behind, Ladybird and Silk.
Once the group of reindeer were level with us, we had time for a little catch up and some close-up pics…
Jenga and Lace looking good and enjoying a peaceful winter.The lovely Diamond, one of the sweetest reindeer in the herd.Gazelle will be 17 in the spring – she’s looking good for an old girl!14-year-old Caterpillar and 2-year-old Amur.Choc-ice will be three in the spring so as a maturing bull has already cast his antlers.
We soon moved the small herd to where they were meant to be – time definitely got away from us!
Amy hard at work with 16-year-old Ibex on a halter and 14-year-old Lace in the background. Look at all that yummy lichen to keep them happy!
We are opening to the public once again on Saturday the 8th February 2025! With some BIG changes though for the 2025 season as we’ve now moved into our brand new Reindeer Centre building, having operated out of the neighbouring Reindeer House since it was built in 1960.
The brand new Centre, with Reindeer House just beyond it.
However, we think it’s really important that people understand that everything is still a work in progress and changes will continue to happen for the foreseeable future as we continue landscaping and developing, so 2025 will be a year of us working around what we currently have in place, whilst it changes constantly. But at the moment, what’s the deal?! Let me try and explain what we will have on offer at first, and how this might change throughout the coming months:
To start with, let me make it clear that – like over the last 12 months – Hill Trips to visit the reindeer up in their mountain home aren’t affected in any way and will run completely normally up on the mountains. The differences are all down in Glenmore at the Centre – thankfully the hills and the reindeer don’t change!
Over the February half-term, we will have 4 reindeer on display in our Paddock area. From the end of the half-term the Paddocks will be closed once again, opening again at the start of the Easter holidays and remaining open for the rest of the year. Just now much of the groundworks there are still to be done – we managed to get enough boardwalk completed in time to have reindeer on display at Christmas time, but there is still much to do over the course of the coming months. This includes a new Elf House (of course!), more viewing areas, another ‘bothy’ building, and a covered area for the reindeer. We will also landscape the ground within the Paddock itself to improve the aesthetics and make it more reindeer-friendly! As you can see in the photo below, there’s a lot to do from the stage we’re at just now…
The current Paddock area, with viewing platform at the right. Much more to come in the future!
As such, tickets for the February half-term will be available on the day rather than for pre-purchase online. At times we will aim to have herders out in the Paddocks giving talks but much of the time the Paddock will be self guided, meaning our prices will vary accordingly throughout the half-term too.
At the moment, some of our previous display boards are up temporarily in the Paddocks for visitors to peruse.
On arrival to the Centre, visitors will now come directly into the new Centre to check in/purchase tickets, rather than Reindeer House. Our entrance ‘atrium’ is very much a work in progress still, with old signage temporarily still in use whilst new signage and displays are developed – this will all be updated gradually over the time as work is completed.
Emily has been working tirelessly on the design of the new shop, and ex-herder Olly has been spending his weekends building beautiful wooden stuff to make it look pretty! Andi and Cameron have added the finishing touches too. It’s a little smaller than our old shop so we’ll have to work out the best use of the space as we go, but right now it’s looking lovely.
Beautiful wooden shelves!Antlers have many uses!
The Exhibition is still being designed and we don’t have an opening date for this yet, so for the time being visitors for the Paddocks will be bypassing that area and going back out the building the way they came in. It also means we have space to work on displays behind the scenes for the time being.
Exhibition room, which in the future visitors will pass through on their way out to the Paddocks.
One thing we do have up on display already is our ‘Thank You board’ for the people who pledged for our Crowdfunder appeal last year for their name to be displayed on the wall in the new Centre…
… and the plaques are up for those who pledged for one too!
And here’s our new office! It’s been a bit of a juggling mission to get everything to fit in, but we’re just about there…
And of course, how about the car park? Last year the builders used it for their portacabin and machinery, and over Christmas we used it ourselves for staff. Just now we’re finishing off signage to get it ready to open to the public, and it will include a designated disabled space and (hopefully) EV chargers. Please note that it will be for customer use ONLY (you can’t park there just to walk to the beach!) during our opening hours.
Car park – signage and parking bays still to be added, along with barrier between it and the road.
In no way will the car park be big enough at busy times of year for all our visitors, but there is still parking elsewhere in Glenmore, and in a very tight space it is as big as the surroundings allow. How we wish that the Reindeer Centre and it’s associated groundworks didn’t need to be shoe-horned into such a steeply sloping area – it’s made everything so much more difficult, but we can only do our best with what we have!!!
So here’s to the year ahead. Although we were working hard behind the scenes, at times last year we felt rather like we were twiddling our thumbs waiting for the building to be signed over to us – but now it is onwards and upwards from here on!
In January the entire herd is out free roaming and they don’t need us. They can find all their own food and they generally don’t have any health issues in the winter – they’re in their element! However, we do of course like to keep an eye on them, plus us herders would go a bit stir-crazy if we were completley office-bound for the whole of January so we tend to go up to see the herd every 2 or 3 days and give them some extra food.
On the days we don’t see the reindeer, photos of us working in the office would be very dull, so instead you’re getting photos of the dogs! Reindeer and dogs – what’s not to love?!
I was also away for the first half of the month, so the photos begin on the 15th. To see the snowy start to the month check out Lotti’s photo blog here. Sadly I missed all that lovely snow!
15th of January: Florence and her calf Cuppa are always side by side.16th of January: Dante looking awesome! She will be 8 years old in the spring and looks fantastic – in excellent condition and with a cracking set of antlers.17th of January: No reindeer to see today so the lovely Elsie is the chosen dog! Although she was promptly banished from the office for too much of a distraction. 19th of January: Tiree keeping us company in the office.20th of January: Winnie and Alba were hand-reared in 2023 so will be two years old in the spring. We’re incredibly proud of them as they’re spending the winter out free roaming in the hills with the herd.20th of January: What a beautiful office!! Chickpea and Morven looking at the camera.20th of January: Zambezi is the biggest female yearling. She’ll be two in the spring and is in fantastic condition.21st of January: Dug and his famously long tongue.24th of January: Confined to the office thanks to the storm outside, thank goodness for the dogs to get our animal fix! Fraoch doesn’t sit still for long, hench the blurry pic!25th of January: Amy, Hen, and Andi calling the herd.25th of January: Oatcake, Suebi, and Brie were some of the first reindeer to us.25th of January: Suebi fighting her way through a snow storm.29th of January: A trip to see the boys at our second site. Here’s Jester looking epic – although you can cast those heavy antlers now Jester, Christmas is over!30th of January: Look at the hills!! Feeding the herd in the late afternoon.
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!
For all of the UK, 2025 started with a cold snap and in many places lots of subsequent snow. In the Cairngorms we were treated to about 10 days of beautiful snowy weather and temperatures down to about -17. Luckily reindeer are so well adapted to the cold, that they don’t even feel the cold at -17, instead they actively enjoy cold weather in the winter. Here is a photo blog showing some of the beautiful snow days that we have had recently.
Peanut lying down in the snow. In their winter coat, reindeer are so well insulated that they lie on snow without melting it.Nuii, Peanut’s daughter, a firm favourite amongst the herders.The last Hill Trip of the year walking down to the reindeer.Glacée and the rest of the herd walking out to the free-range.Maisie, Andi and Lotti after letting the reindeer out to free-range for the rest of the winter.Glenmore looking like Narnia.Lisette and Cameron leading Frost and Mr Whippy off the hill to go and free-range at our second base.Reindeer calves running through the snow for their food!!!Sheena stuck in a snowdrift.Gorgeous Chai.The herd waiting for their food!Sheena, Cameron and Amy on the way back home from a snowy reindeer feed!And finally, here is a photo from the next day! With the snow almost entirely gone, what a difference in 24 hours.
So the newbies to Christmas this year are: Morse, Jelly, Ärta, Akubra, Jester, Busby, Cowboy, Mr Whippy, Gelato, Magnum and Mivvi. They were all trained in Oct/Nov this year to wear harness and pull the sleigh. This is always done alongside a reindeer who is already trained to show them the ropes. Most of them went out on Christmas events as a 5-6 month old calf but these boys have now all been trained to harness and to pull the sleigh so lets hear how they have all got on this season.
One of our Christmas Day parades at the Macdonald Resort in Aviemore! Ärta on the right looking very comfortable being led by an elf! Cuppa, Fika are the calves and the old pro (and Ärta’s big bro) Dr Seuss at the back.
Morse’s antlers are so big we had to train him alongside another Christmas reindeer who either had one antler or no antlers so he could fit. As a result we decided that once he was trained here in Glenmore that on actual Christmas events he wouldn’t pull the sleigh as we didn’t want him to have a bad experience so he just had to follow behind with the others. The last time he did Christmas event was back in 2018 when he was a calf so 6 year ago now, but, he hadn’t forgotten and has been great and looks so, so impressive. We did alter his team to only have 1 calf (usually there are 2) because we didn’t think there would be enough room at the back of the sleigh for two adults and two calves with the sheer size of his antlers.
Morse and Frost during a training session in snowy Glenmore.
Jelly and Ärta are Covid calves. This means they didn’t actually go out on Christmas tour in 2020 so it was a slightly steeper learning curve for them. The training the calves get at 5-6 months old is so valuable come adult hood when they have already seen what it’s all about. But, it’s not to say they can’t, it just takes special handling and picking the correct events for these reindeer to take part in. Both were harness and sleigh trained in Oct/Nov and I’d say Ärta was better than Jelly so we may need extra time for Jelly to get there. Jelly lost his antlers fairly early on in the season so he was just a ‘back reindeer’ behind the sleigh this year. Ärta has pulled the sleigh on a couple of straight-forward parades which weren’t very busy and he’s seems like he’ll be grand in the future. Like I said we just take things a bit slower with reindeer who need that extra training but in a few years time I suspect they will be the ones training the newbies so watch this space!
Ärtaon Christmas Day!Poirot and Busby at the front of the sleigh whilst Ärta learns how to walk nicely at the back of the sleigh – taking it all in his stride.
The 3 year old boys have been absolute superstars this Christmas. Akubra from the day he joined the herd has always proved to be Mr Chill and the others – Cowboy, Busby and Jester aren’t far behind. They have all been out and about pulling the sleigh or walking at the back and it’s looking like we have some cracking ‘Christmas reindeer’ up and coming in these guys. They make us so proud!
Cowboy at the front of the sleigh in Dunkeld (next to old boy Druid). Cowboy was amazing and didn’t put a hoof wrong!Another training session with Ben at the front of the sleigh with Dr Seuss and newbie Akubra, plus Busby at the back.Jester at an event at Landmark, Carrbridge. He did a super job walking at the back of the sleigh.The lovely Busby, also at Landmark. He pulled the sleigh during the parade and was fantastic.Akubra and Busby pulling the sleigh on Christmas Day with Lotti leading. Ärta can be seen in the background.Busby and Akubra pulling the sleigh whilst getting filmed!
Then we have four 2 year olds – Magnum, Mr Whippy, Gelato and Mivvi. We don’t usually geld our reindeer until they are 3 years old (unless we use them as a breeding bull), however, these four were particularly big for their age so we decided gelding them a year early wouldn’t impact their growth. We did train them here in Glenmore to pull the sleigh, which they were great at, we decided that on events if it was a long parade then they would walk at the back rather than put that pressure on a younger body. If it was a short parade with a light Santa then we might give them a go. All four have been so good and taking everything in their stride. Like the boys who are 1 year older they have the making of being a fantastic Christmas reindeer.
Gelato, Irish, Mivvi and Jester on display at Gleneagles Hotel. Magnum pulling the sleigh for the very first time next to Clouseau. Adzuki at the back.Mr Whippy pulling the sleigh for the first time next to Anster. Mivvi on an event at Gleneagles. This was a ‘reindeer only’ event with no sleigh, but great exposure all the same and a lovely place to work!
So there you have it, class of 2024. A real mixed bag but all characters in their own way. When working with them at Christmas time we really get to know them as individuals which only makes that bond and knowledge all the better.
All of the reindeer in our herd are great, of course. But the reindeer we usually shout about are the big breeding bulls, the sweet little calves, a trusty Christmas reindeer or a female who stands out from the rest. In today’s blog I’m going to chat about some of our old girls. They have bred some wonderful calves over the years and guided the herd around the vast Cairngorm Mountains teaching the younger females along the way. Now they are too old to breed so now they live their life on the free range for about 90% of the year as there is no reason for them to be in our mountain enclosure which we use for management purposes such as calving or the rutting season. The 10% they do come into our enclosure is for routine vaccines and check-ups.
These old girls are: Fern (aged 17), Sika (16), Sambar (16), Gazelle (16), Ibex (16), Pavlova (15), Oatcake (15), Ryvita (15) and Hobnob (15). Although they don’t look quite as spritely as they did a few years ago, equally, they don’t look like they’re going anywhere in the near future.
Fern – September 2024. Look at all that yummy lichen beneath her feet. She knows all the best grazing spots in the hills. Officially the oldest reindeer in the herd.Sika was in our enclosure for a short while in the autumn. Here she is licking her lips at the sight of a white bag! She’s very shy, but in more recent years has discovered what a white bag contains, although she remains one of the few reindeer who are uncatchable whilst out in the hills!Sika leading the free range herd in April 2024 – what a life!Catching up with Sambar whilst she free ranges in August 2024. She’s a sweet-natured lass and it’s always a joy to see her!Cameron on a retrieval mission – bringing home 16 year olds Gazelle and Ibex. They’re looking good for old girls and have moulted most of their old winter coats and are in their short summer coats.Gazelle in September 2024 – looking very smart and in good condition. She’s the mother of 3 of our wonderful ‘Christmas reindeer’ – Aztec, Athens, and Adzuki! Ibex also looking fab in September 2024! She is a granny of Nile and Camomile thanks to daughter Flax.Hobnob and daughter Mushy – January 2024. Hobnob is a mother and granny, so her good gentics are in the herd for hopefully many years to come.Sika and Hobnob in December 2024, free ranging together.Oatcake in January 2024. We’re hoping Oatcake may become a granny in the spring, thanks to her daughter Lolly! Fingers crossed.Pavlova in January 2024, look at her epic antlers!Pavlova in May 2012 being followed by her newborn calf who we later named Torch. Torch is a fantastic mum thanks to Torch’s son Morse, who we used as a breeding bull, Pavlova’s genetics will live on in our herd! Torch’s daughter Sunflower is now also a breeding female too.
The oldest reindeer we’ve ever had in the herd got to 19 years old and Fern is only 4 months from her 18th birthday so she’s doing amazingly. She’s such a sweet old lady and a firm favourite amongst us herders. Then there are 4 others hot on her heels at only 1 year younger. 2008 must have been a pretty special year with strong genetics to have this many getting to such a good age. Then we have 2009 when we named the reindeer after cakes biscuits and puddings and we still have four females from that year. Ryvita recently has been acting granny as a couple of months ago she landed herself with a small herd of young females who where on the free range with her but I’m sure she kept them all in check. She was certainly boss, and quite right too!
Ryvita being Ryvita in December 2024, breaking into our feed bag!Old girl Ryvita with a herd of younsters including Solero, Shannon, and Mochi.
Considering reindeer live on average 12-14 years these cows are doing just great! I always think if a reindeer gets to over 10 years old they are doing well as they live such a harsh life especially in the middle of winter. Winters in Scotland aren’t quite as harsh as those across the world where other reindeer herds live so I suspect as a result we have a higher average age in our herd.
So cheers to the old girls in our herd. What a wonderful bunch of reindeer you are and thanks for being the role models to the youngsters following in your hoof prints.
A special mention goes to the lovely Okapi, who sadly passed away recently. She got to 16 years old and spent the vast majority of her life free roaming in the hills. She was always delighted to see a feed bag and was one of our reliable girls we could always catch out and help us move the free ranging reindeer around. She’ll be missed!
December has been another mixed month for me in terms of work with time at home on the hills, and out and about on tour! Here at home, I’ve been on the hill working with the herd, taking lots of people up to meet the reindeer on Hill Trips, and helping to keep the office afloat at this incredibly busy time of year. I’ve also been on road again with Christmas teams doing parades and events in Strathaven, Dunkeld, Fife, and very locally in Carrbridge amongst other places. Once again, the reindeer were super and made me incredibly proud.
The Paddocks has also been open – hoorah! We’re still not allowed in the building, and it’s all quite basic at the moment, but at least we have had beautiful reindeer on display, and we have even been visited by Santa. Here’s just a few photos from December for you all.
4th of December: Earl Grey is one of the biggest calves of 2024. What a chunky boy, and a complete poser!4th of December: Cuppa and his funky “eyebrows” making him look super serious all the time.5th of December: The mallards often steal the show on a Hill Trip!6th of December: The team enjoying their lichen after a Christmas parade to the Benarty Centre, Fife.7th of December: Cowboy ready to pull the sleigh in Dunkeld. This is his first season as a sleigh puller and he’s an old pro already!8th of December: Chai was so relaxed behind the sleigh whilst waiting for Santa to arrive she laid down! 11th of December: A funny face from Mangetout!12th of December: Dad Ärta and his son Earl Grey, with matching white noses!13th of December: Scully is in great condition just now after having a year off motherhood, hopefully she may now be in calf. Fingers crossed for the spring. 14th of December: Latte at Landmark Forest Adventure Park in Carrbridge. Completely unfazed about the giant T-rex looming over the pen!15th of December: Christie and Morven. 15th of December: Maisie is a local lass who’s been working with us on weekends and during her school holidays, here she is with two “hats”, Beanie and Trilby!15th of December: Some of the lovely dogs posing by the fire in the shop, Fraoch, Elsie, Ginger, and Tiree! 18th of December: Scully, Christie, and Torch posing beautifully! There’s even a wee rainbow if you look super close. 20th of December: Irish being cute!20th of December: Mocha and her mum Vienna. Vienna has recently lost an antler this week.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our blog readers, we really do appreciate your support and hope to entertain you every Friday of 2025 too!
For anyone who didn’t read part 1 then check it out here!
Halter training:
October is halter training time for our reindeer, we will (temporarily) take the calves away from their mums and start doing some training. This is very helpful in case we need to catch them for any treatment in the future or walk them to a new area. Some of the well-trained, castrated reindeer end up doing some Christmas events in the festive season and sometimes the cattle will go to an event or show, needing to be halter trained.
Reindeer or cattle, the first time on a halter can be a bit difficult as it’s an unfamilar sensation having something on your face. We will try to give them lots of nice food and the best experience as possible. The second day will be much more relaxed for both handler and animal already, but is does take some work and patience to get them to walk nicely on a halter without them being stubborn or without any pulling.
Halter training with cattle can be a bit more dangerous as they are heavy in weight and pretty strong. Not only that, where reindeer physically can’t kick backwards with their rear legs, cattle can! At least, luckily both reindeer and cattle will not bite you, as they both don’t have upper teeth, but instead have a strong dental pad (gum without teeth).
One of the reasons why we halter train all our reindeer is so we can catch them out whilst free ranging incase we need to move them. This bunch of free rangers were easy to catch with that big bag of bribery next to Lisette!Halter reaining in Glen Nevis.
Relaxing:
Reindeer or cattle, they all do love a bit of relaxing time!!
Ted having a nap!Mairi enjoying the sun on her side.Kelpie enjoying the sun.Akubra enjoying some autumnal sunshine!Cowboy fast asleep.Dr Seuss relaxing, probably after eating lots of hand feed!
Green things(!):
Reindeer in the Cairngorms and Highland cattle in Glen Nevis, they all love the color green; bags, scoops, bins, or even green vans!
Reindeer calves eating out of the green bag – Tub, Magnum, Viennetta, and Mr Whippy!Beret seeing if we’ve got any extra food for her in our green bins in the hill enclosure.Enjoying a quick snack from a green scoop!Checking out Lisette’s green van!
Selfies:
Reindeer and cattle don’t mind a selfie or close-up photo either!
Max with his big wet nose.Beret and her lovely furry, warm nose!
Cow and calf:
Cow and calf reindeer, Scully and new-born Yukon.Cow and calf Highlanders!
Popularity:
Another thing they both have in common, they’re native to Scotland and tourists love seeing them!
Happy people on a Hill Trip visiting the reindeer.People enjoying seeing the Highland cow herd in Glen Nevis.
Reindeer used to be native to Scotland but went extinct. Nobody knows exactly when, but we think the last reindeer (still roaming in Caithness and Cairngorm area, the coldest places in the UK) went extinct around the 1000 years ago due to different reasons, such as range restriction and people overhunting them. In other areas of Britain, reindeer disappeared much earlier, due to natural climate change after the last ice-age, the habitat changed and there was less suitable food for this Artic animal.
We think Highland cattle have descended from the Egyptian Long horn cattle. These cattle were well established and domesticated in the Nile village around 6000 years ago. Neolithic farmers brought these cattle into Britain. The group of cattle settled in the Highlands had to adapt to the colder and windy weather, growing lots more hair!
Another story is, that the Celtic immigrant people brought their Short Horns, another old breed (all cattle likely come from the Aurochs, originating either in North India or Central Asia and spreading into North Africa and into Europe) to the Scottish Island, where again, they had to adapt to the harsh weather. These cattle, black in color, were first called Kyloe (from the way they swam or were ferried across the kyles) and are now known as Highland cattle, mixing with the cattle on the mainland and domesticated into different colors, mostly red haired due to Queen Victoria’s preference. The Highland cattle herd book was established in 1885.
After the reindeer got re-introduced in Scotland to the Cairngorms (still the coldest place in the UK) in 1952, people fell in love with them and the Reindeer Centre has been taking people to see the reindeer on Hill Trips or in our Paddocks.
On the Glen Nevis Estate I’ve started taking people up to see the cattle since last year, March-October, either on a guided walk in the Glen or on the Hairy Cow Experience (find out more here: https://www.glen-nevis.co.uk/activities).
I have been a reindeer herder for the last three and a half years, working two days per week. For the rest of the time I live in Fort William where amongst many other things I look after a herd of Highland cattle. I thought it would make a fun blog to talk about some similarities and differences I find working with these two very hairy animals.
Names:
Of course, Highland cattle and reindeer do not look like each other at all, but we do call the female cattle and reindeer cows, and we call the male cattle and reindeer bulls, and their young calves.
Highland calf in Glen Nevis.Some lovely calves from the Cairngorm reindeer herd.Highland bull Ted.Highland bull Bealach.Roman, a very impressive reindeer bull, in September 2021.Reindeer bull Sherlock.
Horns or Antlers:
Highland cattle have got horns on their head, made from keratin, with the life core in the middle. They will grow slowly and keep growing their whole lifetime.
Reindeer, like most other deer species, have got antlers on their head. They grow quickly, fall off, and grow back every single year. These are not made from keratin, but bone. While they grow, a special tissue called velvet is on the outside, beneath that is the blood supply feeding the growing bone.
Normally Highland cattle will not lose their horns; however, we do have one exception in Glen Nevis, our famous girl Mairi. She broke her horn 4 years ago, I’ve no idea what happened, it will remain a mystery forever.
Mairi with her broken horn.
And normally reindeer will grow a nice set of antlers, but after a little accident and surgery when she was only a little calf, reindeer Holy Moley will only grow one antler every year too!
The lovely Holy Moley with her one antler!
Coats:
Both animals grow a thick winter coat, and they will lose this coat for the summer months.
Instead of melting, the snow will stay on their body as they don’t give away any of their body heat, keeping the cold out and warmth in.
A snowy Highlander!Juniper and Sundae in the middle of a snowy herd.Sheila in her thick winter coat.Sheila looking smart in her summer coat.Beret in her beautiful thick and light-colored winter coat.Beret in their much thinner and darker looking summer coat.In June, all reindeer look very scruffy, hairs flying everywhere. This is Cowboy losing his winter coat in June 2022.
Highland cattle sometimes need (and like) a hand getting rid of their winter coat, by giving them a brush in springtime. However, they also don’t mind a nice brush other times of the year.
Giving the cows a helping hand during the moult.Ted enjoying a summer brush.
Where reindeer don’t like being touched, most of the cattle I work with absolutely love it. Reindeer are not tactile animals; they don’t groom each other. If a reindeer touches another reindeer, they do this to tell the other reindeer that he or she is in their private space and need to move out of their way. If people touch them, they likely just walk away, thinking we are telling them off.
There are of course a few reindeer who don’t mind getting touched, mostly because they’re hoping for some extra food.
A quick reindeer interaction with Beret, nothing to do with the food bag under Lisette’s arm! 😉
Cattle love licking each other. Like every person and animal, they all have their own character, but most of the Glen Nevis herd will do anything for a brush. We will try not to do this over winter, as we don’t want to pull out their hair which protects them in the colder weather.
Iona and Rain enjoying each others touch, early summer 2024.