The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd

13th November 20208th November 2020

The Answers to Tilly’s Quiz!

Back in August we posted a blog with some quiz questions, from the quiz I ran for the staff here at Reindeer House towards the end of the (first!) lockdown, when the restrictions were starting to lift. So here are the long awaited answers! If you had a go then hopefully you have come up with the answers and they are similar to mine!

1: An old term for a stag?

‘Hart’ is an old English term for a Red stag. I grew up in the village of Welwyn, in Hertfordshire and the local Pub was called The White Hart.

One of the red deer stags at our hill farm (the second site for the reindeer herd). Photo: Alex Smith

2: Name the three types of Scottish heather, and in which order do they flower?

‘Bell’ heather is first to flower and is a very bright purple, generally growing in distinct patches on dry moorland heath. The ‘crossed leaved heath’ is a close second, much paler purple in colour, it prefers wetter, boggier ground. Then finally the ‘ling’ heather, which clothes the Scottish hillsides with the wonderful purple hue and this year we had one of the best ever flowering of the ling!

The bright pink/purple of the bell heather, with the paler ling heather amongst it

3: The Scottish name for a woodlouse?

A ‘slater’. They are very small terrestrial crustaceans, which I often find under stones (so not sure where the name ‘woodlouse’ comes from!). When we named the reindeer calves in 2010 on a Bugs and Beasties theme, one of the male calves was called Slater. Sadly he’s no longer with us but we still have some of them from that year, including Spider, Beastie, Lace and Caterpillar.

4: What are the colour of the following berries?

Bearberry is bright red and has a sharp taste.

Crowberry is black, only grows high on the mountain and provides an important source of autumn and winter food for Ptarmigan.

Cowberry is red like the bearberry – in fact it’s easy to confuse the two. They grow at similar altitudes on the moorland but the cowberry is an upright plant whereas the bearberry is prostrate, growing along the ground often on stony ridges.

Cloudberry when ripe is orange/peach colour and grows in wet mossy areas.

And finally blaeberry is blue/black, called ‘bilberry’ in England and is very tasty.

5: Loch Morlich is a glacial feature, but what type?

A Kettle Hole, which is formed by a ‘plug of glacial ice’, which was been left behind after the ice retreated and gouged out a depression.

Mozzarella looking rather gormless, but more importantly with the giant kettle hole of Loch Morlich behind!

6: Name the mythical creature of Ben Macdui. It has to be exact!

The Big Grey Man of Ben Macdui.

7: In which coire in the Cairngorms does snow linger the longest? indeed some years it doesn’t melt at all.

An Garbh Choire which is between the Braeriach plateau and the Lairig Ghru.

8: Name the two insectivorous plants that grow in boggy ground?

Butterwort and Sundew. They both have ‘sticky leaves’ which attract the small insects (like midges) which then get stuck on the leaf. The plant then ‘digests’ the insects by injecting enzymes into it. Sounds like something out of science fiction!!

Both insectivorous plants in the UK in the same photo! Butterwort (top) and Sundew (bottom).

9: Who was the first pure white reindeer to be born in the Cairngorm herd?

Snowflake was born in 1966? and Mr Utsi was very pleased to have a pure white calf in the Cairngorm herd. Many of the reindeer herding people hold white reindeer in high esteem and are regarded as very special. Indeed Mr Utsi always claimed that more white reindeer were born in areas where there was a lot of white rocks and to encourage more white reindeer to be born he painted some of the rocks white!

Snowflake with one of her calves in the early 70s, in the Reindeer House garden!

10: What are the full titles and subtitles of the three books I’ve written?

Velvet Antlers Velvet Noses: The Story of a Reindeer Family 1995

The Real Rudolph: A Natural History of Reindeer 2006

Reindeer: An Arctic Life 2016 Available on our website now!

11: In the foreword to ‘The Living Mountain’ by Nan Shepherd she describes reindeer as ‘no longer experimental but ……….’?

Settlers

12: Name 3 countries or islands ( other than Scotland ) where reindeer have been introduced in the past?

Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Greenland, South Georgia. There are other smaller arctic islands off the north coast of Russia.

Reindeer in the mountains in Eastern Iceland

Tilly

6th November 20205th November 2020

Pining for a Marten!

A shortened version of this blog has just been published in our twice annual newsletter, but we didn’t have space to fit the whole thing in, so we thought we’d pop it up as a blog too!

Lockdown was a bizarre and scary period for us all. The term ‘unprecedented’, which I’d rarely heard before, has been used by the news and media every day for months now, and with a lot of uncertainty still ahead, I suspect the word may still be commonly used for some time to come.

Two martens just a couple of feet from the window of my bedroom!

But while we were told to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives, something quite special was happening in Glenmore and indeed the rest of the country. With the lack of people around, for the first time in a long time, wildlife was once again becoming more visible!

For the reindeer here in the Cairngorms, they suddenly had the mountains to themselves and it was great to see them in areas they wouldn’t usually graze due to the number of people around. I even found a Ptarmigan nest with eggs right next to a (normally busy) path one day along with countless raptors seen higher up in the hills, but what I really enjoyed most was the change in wildlife close to home near Reindeer House. We had a visiting roe deer with two fawns outside the house on a couple of occasions; I would regularly see Black Grouse all over the glen along with an osprey fishing over Loch Morlich; and an abundance of other birdlife and the usual red squirrels. However, the animal I have most enjoyed has been the Pine Marten. For those who don’t know, a Pine Marten is a part of the mustelid family, which includes stoats and weasels. They are nocturnal and extremely agile, living mostly in trees and predating on small rodents, birds, eggs, insects and fruit. But what makes them so special is how elusive they are – until this year, I’d only seen a few fleetingly as they ran across the road or a path.

I first discovered they were around at the very start of March – I started to notice my bird food bin (which lives outside my little cabin) kept being knocked over in the night. At first, I thought it was because of all the storms we were having at the time. But on a still night I was woken up by the sound of the bin lid crashing on the ground and to my delight, saw a Pine Marten helping itself to my bag of peanuts. Over the course of a few weeks it became more and more common until by the end of March this became the norm every night. I began to notice that up to 3 or 4 different Pine Marten were coming during the night and my peanut bill was going up!

Watching the activity quite literally from bed!

It was great to start being able to identify the different Pine Martens as I got to know them and see them behave in different ways. Some of the younger ones were very shy and timid while the older larger two Martens were very greedy and would stick about for longer. I did not mind being woken up most nights when they came as they were a great source of entertainment.

Unfortunately for me, since the middle of summer there has been less Pine Marten action from my cabin due to the abundance of food that they could predate on in the glen. I know that come late autumn they will be back in full force and, fingers crossed, with kits! I’m hoping that from now these furry charismatic creatures will be here to stay at Reindeer House for as long as I am. I feel very lucky and look forward getting to know them even more.

Joe

30th October 202025th October 2020

Adopter stories…

Every now and then we like to feature some visitor stories in our blogs. Here’s a couple of stories from long-time reindeer adopters Karen, Steve and Sally 😀

Karen and Steve, Moray: We started to visit the herd on holiday every year in 2011, we loved seeing and feeding the herd. When Blue was a year old, he followed me around on the Hill Trip and I fed him. My son took a wonderful picture of myself stroking his chin which he seemed to love, and I fell in love in an instant! We then adopted him until he sadly died; at the time I was going through breast cancer which hit us hard as I was just recovering from my third surgery at the time. We wanted to adopt a family member of Blue’s so transferred the adoption to LX, his brother, whom we have met once on the Hill Trip and fed! We are so privileged to be adopters and we love these beautiful animals so very much, it fills us with joy when we visit them! When we were adopters of Blue we even had t shirts made with the picture below saying respectively ‘I am Blue’s Mummy/Daddy’ on and wore them proudly when we visited them which gave the herders much laughter. It was very surreal how Blue seemed to bond with me that first day, he seemed to feel my loving energy towards him, and we loved his beautiful white colour (like his father before him) although we learned he was not an albino.

To see how these wonderful people are so devoted to these beautiful and gentle animals is so fantastic, and to see them in their own habitat is even better and extremely important. We took our best friends Esme and Kevin up and they fell in love with the naughty Bond, so for Christmas we adopted him for them! We got the pack, and I wrote a poem in 4 verses or so to see if they worked out what the present was, and Kevin got it after 3 verses! They were very joyful to get this as a Christmas present, and we hope to visit again soon since we now live in the Highlands in Speyside at last!

Sally, Colchester: My encounter with the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd started in August 1998, the day was awful, raining heavily, I remember jumping over deep puddles and running water in the hill enclosure, you can see from the photo I oblivious of the weather condition! Totally enraptured with the two furry noses nuzzling my hand, staring at the gorgeous big deep brown eye and the enormous grin on my face totally besotted! They were extremely greedy and it looks like I’m about to fall over backward but I don’t think I did. I then retuned in 2016 to be a volunteer during my holidays.

My next encounter wasn’t until 2016, for the second year running I had booked to go on a hill trek but had to cancel for ill health. My friends still went and I was (not very bravely) holding back the tears of disappointment. My friends went off for their adventure and I was left waiting in the shop for them to return (4.5 hours later). An angel called Tilly then asked a herder to take me to the Paddocks and show me the reindeer there and show me what jobs are completed throughout the day. Best 4.5 hours of my life!

I have since returned a few years running as a volunteer during my holidays. My favourite time is either the afternoon I spent in the hill enclosure picking up poo, bags and bags of it, or showing a child how to feed the reindeer – they’re nervous to start with but have the biggest grin on their faces once they’ve managed it, then there’s no stopping them, or talking to visitors in the Paddock. My absolute happy place is sitting amongst the reindeer after a Hill Trip, the reindeer lay down and digest their food, I’m so close amongst, everything is quiet and peaceful, the reindeer adorable, the scenery amazing and the fresh air so clean.

23rd October 202020th November 2020

All the colours of the rainbow (Part One)

Visitors often ask if the different coloured reindeer in our herd are different breeds, or even different species. The answer is no, they’re all reindeer just the same – they can vary in colour like horses, dogs and cats do. I thought I’d show a range of the colours found in our herd. Through the process of domestication, humans tend to select for colour variation, leading to a greater variety in domesticated species than wild ones. They stay the same colour throughout their life, though the colour is richer in their summer coat and lighter in winter.

Reindeer can also have white markings – I’ll look at this in a future blog!

Blondie – as white as they get, with blue eyes

Matto – white with a dusting of darker hairs

Chelsea – what we call a “white” reindeer (as opposed to “pure white” like Blondie)

Silk – creamy hint to her normal colouration

Elvis – normal coloured with silver highlights

Pratchett – so dark even his beard is dark!

Andi

16th October 20203rd October 2020

When good photos go wrong…

Other than the few reindeer still out free-ranging who I haven’t seen lately, I’ve otherwise managed to get nice ‘adopt’ photos of everyone in the herd in the last few weeks. These photos are to go on the certificates that go out to all the lovely people who support us by adopting a reindeer, and as autumn is when reindeer look at their best, it is therefore when I take all the photos.

I realise (after sitting down to write this) that I’ve actually written a blog about photos before (to be fair, that was 5 years ago and I have a rubbish memory at times…) but hey, what’s wrong with repetition?! But actually I thought I’d just show you some of the ‘outtake’ photos, ‘cos everyone likes to see photos of reindeer looking daft, don’t they?

Most photos that don’t make the grade are just because of open mouths or closed eyes:

A classic of Merida from a couple of years ago!

But after my trip over to our farm last month to photograph the reindeer there, I realised that I’d mainly just taken photos of Olympic looking ridiculous!

Then there’s just the odd ones:

Morven looking like she’s just remembered something she’d rather forget…

Background? Check. Good light? Check. Camera in focus? Check. Dr Seuss looking handsome and majestic? Che… oh. No.

Reindeer often need encouragement to look alert for their photo, with ears pricked. This results in my photography assistant (Andi) doing a lot of dancing in the background while making a lot of noise, or sprinting back and forth shaking a feed bag…

…resulting in photos like this, where there’s been crossed wires about which reindeer I’m actually trying to photograph at the time…

And sometimes we resort to throwing things at the reindeer (well, nearby anyway) to get their attention!

Horse many years ago, steadfastly ignoring us.

Most of the time it seems, this is what the reindeer think of me and my camera!

Hen

9th October 20209th October 2020

My memories of the reindeer (part two)

Here’s the second part of Beth’s blog about volunteering with the reindeer over the years, and what it means to her. The first part can be found here.

One of the earliest memories I have of volunteering up in Aviemore is being sat in the back of the van in the summer with a small calf between my legs we were bringing back down the hillside for the evening (Editor’s note – this was a hand-reared reindeer calf who was at this point spending his nights in the paddocks beside the Reindeer Centre, and his days up on the mountain with the main herd in the enclosure. We don’t routinely transport reindeer up and down the hill in the back of our van!!!). He was so small, but I remember walking him down the hillside and when we got in the van he laid his head on my lap. It’s such a small thing but it meant so much. These amazing animals and I was lucky enough to be able to help and look after them!

Hand-reared calf Fergus tripping Abby up (a regular occurrence), en route to and from the hill daily

When I say the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd have a lot to answer for, I mean it. When I turned 16 I landed myself a job at Stockeld Park, near my home in Yorkshire, which is one of the many locations the Cairngorm reindeer have a reindeer parade at Christmas time. It is because of the reindeer that I got myself the job. A few years prior to getting the job one of the managers told my dad that when I was of the age to be able to work I was to fill an application out and they’d have me working on their team like a shot. And so I did. 21st May 2015 I was at Stockeld Park picking my uniform up. On my first shift there a few weeks later I walked into the shop where I would be working and a poster was behind the counter with my face on it from the previous Christmas event. I was known for a while as “reindeer girl” as most the staff first knew me for helping out at the Christmas events! That name lasted with me till I left a few years later.

Having a quiet word with 6 month old Lora at a Christmas event.

I could go on and on about the memories I have made volunteering. But I won’t bore you all! Just two more memories that have given me so much happiness -one of them I was able to bring experience from my care work background into the day I spent with a family doing a half-day reindeer trek (which doesn’t run any more). I can’t remember the year but I remember going out early on a hill trek with a family with a young boy. They had adopted a reindeer in the past and all were excited to do the hill trek. It was a glorious day. The sun was out and it was warm. The young boy had autism and was very shy at first. It took a while to encourage him to take the rope and lead the reindeer on the walk. When he did it was like talking to a new boy. He was full of smiles and was so happy. I remember after the trek a reindeer called Lego, who he had been leading, laid down in the long grass. I’d turned away to talk to some of the other people and when I turned to see the young boy he was laid down cuddled into Lego. It was an amazing thing to see. It was like seeing a boy and his dog. They were so peaceful and seemed in their own world, and it melted my heart and made my day to see this young boy so happy.

When I was in my second year of sixth form it was mandatory to do a week’s worth of work experience during the summer after. Most people in my class chose to go work in a coffee shop or wherever their parents worked. Nope. Not me. I hopped in the car (which gave my family an excuse for a weekend away) and got myself up to Aviemore. I stayed in the Youth Hostel a few minutes away from the Reindeer Centre. That week I cooked for myself (may have burnt a meal or two…), I went for plenty of walks nearby where I was and most importantly spent five days working alongside the staff at the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre. I loved every moment of it !

Up on the hill with the reindeer on a drizzly day

I can also remember the day we went up on the hill trip and me and Imogen who was working there at the time went hunting for Pokemon on the way back down the van on what used to be a big craze back then on the Pokemon Go app! That’s also the same day Hen had asked me to help check a reindeer’s temperature… another new experience I had never done before!

This was the week that I was pushed the most. I had so much fun and I was also tested on my knowledge of the reindeer. Fiona had mentioned to me on the first day that by the end of the week she was wanting me to lead a hill trip from start to finish. Now I panicked. But eventually, on my last day, I took a small group of visitors up to see the reindeer. After I had done that I was so proud of myself. I have never had the most confidence. In school I would shy away, wouldn’t even put my hand up to ask a question to the teacher. But whenever someone asked me to stand up and talk about reindeer, it was like I was a new person. I could give a speech on the information I knew and then would be able to answer questions people had to ask. I will never be more grateful to a bunch of people then I am to those I have worked with at the
Cairngorm Reindeer Centre. They have helped me come so far in life and are part of the reason who I am today.

Getting back on topic, that same week I helped out in the office, cleaned the paddocks, cleaned the visitors centre, helped in the shop and on my evenings I spent a lot of them walking and being at one with the beautiful area Glenmore is. I can remember on one of the nights Fiona had invited us to join in with their “Come dine with me” evening. That day me and another volunteer, Blyth, had helped prep some of the food they would be cooking that night. It was just lovely. I felt so involved and learnt so many skills that week. I remember sitting on the train and not wanting to go home.

I have also helped at a fair few Christmas events, mainly Stockeld Park and Beverley. Beverley by far has to be my favourite. It’s so busy and feels so festive. I used to love answering questions people had and talking to the children about Christmas and the magic of the reindeer. I remember one year helping harness the reindeer ready for the event and one of the reindeer lifted his head and bashed his antlers in to my head, bad timing on someone’s behalf and the next day I remember going to school the next day with a bruise going
from the top of my head down to my chin on the left hand side… it was bragging rights and gave me an excuse to chat all about the reindeer event!

Me (right) at the back of the sleigh with Hen, Oasis and Bingo leading

Now I feel I have gone on long enough. And it’s time to wrap up this journey I have brought you on and the memories I have shared. I have met some amazing friends over the past 19 years. Who would’ve thought one reindeer called Biscuit could have brought us a friendship with a lovely lady called Carola who lives over in Holland, and from there many friendships grew. We then found more “reindeer crazy” people like us and started a Reindeer Groupies Page” on Facebook. We’ve had many meetings through the years and have made many memories. I will forever be grateful to everyone up at Reindeer House. You all hold a special place in my heart and I so hope that in October 2020 I will be back up, starting a new chapter of memories by bringing my partner and his daughter up to see the reindeer and hopefully sharing the magic and love I have in my heart with them for these lovely creatures.

Beth

With fellow ‘groupie’ Pandra! Andi looking a little less than impressed in the background – Christmas training on yet another wet, manky day!

2nd October 202026th September 2020

Reindeer love Munros!

The Reindeer love Munros! In fact, it could be said that they are our resident ‘Munro baggers’ in the Cairngorms, although, plenty of reindeer herders would also be contenders for that crown.

A ‘munro’ is any Scottish mountain above the height of 3,000 feet (914.4 metres) that has been recognised by the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC). And a ‘munro bagger’ is anyone (person, or perhaps any animal?) engaged in the activity of climbing all of the listed Munros.

The reindeer herd high up on the mountains, near the summit of Cairn Gorm

Tilly, the owner of the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd, finished climbing all of the 282 Munros in 2019 with Moskki – her dog – completing most of them alongside her. Moreover, Alan (Tilly’s husband and fellow owner of the herd) and Joe (Tilly’s possible future son-in-law…) (Editors note: Ben is solely responsible for writing this and none of the rest of us are claiming any responsibility!) are other herders who have climbed all 282 munros.

Pelting rain last November for Tilly’s 282nd munro! Photo: Nigel Housden / Pinsharpstudios

Maybe that’s why reindeer herders feel such a connection to the reindeer…they both love the high tops. The reindeer are often found around Cairn Gorm Mountain, the 6th highest of the munros. They love the cooler air and vegetation that comes with being at a higher altitude. Occasionally they stray further afield and need bringing back into the areas they’re allowed to be in, which requires us heading out into the hills and bringing them home – potentially bagging a munro en-route.

On the move, with the Ptarmigan building and Cairn Gorm in the background

The Cairngorm Mountains are blessed with many of the highest mountains in the British Isles. The second highest in the U.K. is Ben Macdui (Ben Macduibh in Gaelic), with its height recorded at 1309 metres. And the third (Braeriach), fourth (Cairn Toul), fifth (Sgor an Lochain Uaine) and sixth (Cairn Gorm) highest U.K. mountains are also located here in the Cairngorms.

As of July 2^nd 2020, 6,768 people have reported completing the round of Munros (although the SMC would rather have the spelling as ‘compleating’!). But if there was a local record for the Cairngorm Mountains, reindeer would have ‘bagged’ more than a lot of the UK population, amongst which I suspect the average climbed to be very, very small!

As a sort of epilogue, I thought it interesting that the SMC recognise six peaks in England, fifteen in Wales and thirteen in Ireland that would be classified as munros or ‘munro tops’ (a peak over 3000′, but one considered a subsidary top of a nearby munro) . That just goes to show how plentiful and large the Scottish hills are in comparison to the rest of the U.K.

Ben

25th September 202012th September 2020

What’s wrong with that reindeer?

One of the challenges with any animal is keeping them healthy. Just as with humans, reindeer can be affected by a number of diseases and ailments. Whilst they are tough, hardy creatures, one of the largest threats is diseases spread by ticks. With climate change leading to milder, wetter winters, the ticks are not always knocked back so hard each year, so there is an increase in numbers. We mostly see tick-borne illness affecting our reindeer in the Spring and Autumn, with May/June and September being the worst months.

So how can you tell that a reindeer is under the weather? When our herd are spending time either in the hill enclosure or at our hill farm, our most important tool is food! A happy, content reindeer will be eager for their breakfast, and visitors on the Hill Trips may have seen that we routinely put out a long line of food, big enough for each reindeer to find a pile, and then count the herd (who are now conveniently stood in a line). Of course they don’t reliably stand still… counting accurately definitely takes a bit of practice.

At this point, there is a chance that the numbers don’t add up. You know that there should be 35 reindeer in the herd, but after three counts you’re still counting just 34. The next step is to work out who it is, which is why new herders get it drilled into them to learn the names! Everyone has a slightly different technique here – I walk along the line literally saying each name out loud, “Rubiks, Feta, Scrabble…” then when I get to the end of the line I can look at a list of who should be there and I’ll remember who I didn’t see.

“…Druid… Kiruna…” Nothing wrong with these two!

As a herd animal, most reindeer are rarely off on their own, so to have one reindeer missing can be a sign they are unwell, feeling miserable, and haven’t followed the herd. But depending on the reindeer it can just mean they’re off on a jolly! But either way, if a reindeer is AWOL in the enclosure, we’ll head out and look for them, taking a wee bag of tasty food and a headcollar. At certain times of the year I seem to spend half my time trudging round the enclosure. At 1,200 acres and including a mountain, it keeps us fit and we sometimes can’t manage to find a missing reindeer if they don’t want to be found. Usually though we eventually come across them, and we either pop a headcollar on and lead them back, or if they’re a bit wilder we herd them in.

Retrieving Marple who had a fever, was feeling a bit sorry for herself and hadn’t come in with the herd for breakfast. Her calf had stayed with her. (She was back to full health in a day or two).

Next step is to check their temperature. Whilst they’re distracted with a bag of food, we use a thermometer, inserted… round the back end… to check if it is high or low. The “normal” temperature for a reindeer is 38.9, with a bit of normal variation – some run a bit high or low. But if its above 39.5, they’re running a fever. Most of the time this doesn’t require a vet to visit – we can inject antibiotics ourselves and in most cases this sorts them out in a day or two. We’ll usually keep them split off with a friend in a smaller part of the enclosure until they’re recovered, to keep an eye on them.

When reindeer are busy trying to break into the feed bags you can be fairly sure there’s nothing wrong with them, as demonstrated this spring by Celt and Roman.

Sometimes poorly reindeer have stuck with the herd, but when we pop the feed out, they stand off looking morose, head low, perhaps even lying down – lying down with chin down on the ground is a red flag. This is particularly noticeable with the greedier characters, who suddenly undergo a personality change! On other occasions reindeer are with the herd, eating on the line, but there is just something about them that suggests all is not well. It’s a bit like knowing there is something wrong with your partner or friend, even through they’re going through all of the motions. There’s definitely a bit of experience and intuition involved here – I can’t always put a finger on it but am always quite pleased with myself when I decide to take a temperature on a hunch and am proved correct!

Not dead, not even ill! Kipling had stuffed herself with food and was merely sleeping it off, though we did go and poke her to make sure!

The other thing we keep a close eye on is the colour of pee… (its a delightful job working with animals!). Reindeer can be affected by a tiny parasite called babesia (similar to the parasite that causes malaria), which is again transmitted by ticks. This delightful critter can make reindeer very poorly indeed – one of the main effects is that the red blood cells are broken down, leading to the reindeer literally peeing blood – so looking each time you hear a tinkle is a great way to spot this. The nickname for the illness is “Red Water Fever” – referring to this red urine. Affected reindeer are usually also incredibly miserable and quiet. Again, we can treat this, but if it’s not spotted quickly enough (for example if we can’t find a reindeer, or if they become ill whilst out free-ranging, where we don’t see every reindeer every day) then it is possible for reindeer to die from it.

Anster demonstrating the perfect colour of pee!

As these illnesses are caused by ticks, and the ticks are affected by the weather, we tend to get runs where several reindeer get ill within a few days, and it can feel like everything is against us as we battle to keep the herd healthy. Prevention-wise, we spend a lot of time waging war on ticks – we use a similar product to that used on dogs and cats which we apply between the front legs of the reindeer which helps stop ticks biting. We regularly feel in the hot-spots (around the ears, under the chin, in the armpits) and pick off any ticks that we find. And we use a vaccine to help protect against red water fever, but its not 100% effective.

The best time of the year for reindeer: cold, snowy weather means no ticks and therefore no illness.

We always look forward to the tick-free winter season, where we can breathe a sigh of relief and relax a little. Our reindeer lead happy lives being able to roam free in their natural habitat, and face none of the health issues that can be caused by a poorer diet or not being able to roam, but the pay-off is that there is more risk from ticks. I’m sure there must be a purpose for ticks existing in the ecosystem, but I’m afraid I struggle to see what it could be! Until we somehow manage to exterminate the lot of them, we’ll stay vigilant, and do our best to keep our reindeer healthy.

Andi

18th September 202012th September 2020

Reindeer impressions

A few weeks back we asked on social media for short stories from visitors about special memories of meeting the reindeer, or perhaps what the reindeer mean to them. When you work with them daily, it’s sometimes easy to forget just how special meeting them can be, and sometimes it’s good to be reminded of that! Here’s a few contributions, with more to follow in the future.

D’Cruz family – Wirral: As a family we have had many memorable treks (9!), but the one in 2015 was extra special. Our herder that year was Mel who had been hand rearing orphaned calf Fergus, so not only did we all get to lead our own reindeer but Fergus decided to join us too. He just trotted along by our sides mingling in and out of the other reindeer for the whole trek which made our memorable experience even more special and we even got to give him his bottle as we rejoined the rest of the herd.

Trekking with (left to right) Atlantic, Balmoral, Laptev, Grunter and wee Fergus leading the way!

Rebecca – Oxfordshire: Deer and reindeer have always been my favourite animals. So, when I discovered the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd existed, I vowed to myself I would visit. A year and a half later, in August 2019, my wish came true! I arrived at the Centre nearly two hours early to make sure I got a place on the Hill Trip – and it was worth the wait! Definitely one of the most memorable aspects of my Scottish Highlands visit. (I have since adopted Origami the reindeer – looks like a return trip is inevitable…)

Up in the hill enclosure on the Hill Trip

Clare – Kettering: My first proper Hill Trip was in April 2013 with Deborah. I enjoyed it so much that we went again in September 2013 and that’s when it all started! I met and then adopted Svalbard! After posting a photo on the Herd’s Facebook page, Carola commented, saying she adopted him too. We then became friends on FB which was lovely. Then through Carola I became friends with Candice after chatting about reindeer on FB too. Candice came up with the idea of having a ‘Group’ meet up in October 2014 and that’s when I met Michelle, Graham, Maggie, Steve, Beth, Brody, Gwenda and Gordon. Since then the gang has grown, Deborah joined in the fun and then we met Belinda and Martin too. It’s been great to meet up on various Hill Trips and events together and share our love for the reindeer. We have a really special friendship and it’s all thanks to the reindeer and herders.

At the start of our group Hill Trip a couple of years back. Complete with guide Dave dressed for the occasion!

Jessica – Ontario, Canada
Best day of my life! We stopped on the way to Skye to feed the Reindeer Herd. The hill was snowy, windy, we were soaking wet from head to toe, but it was GORGEOUS! None of it mattered. We had never met reindeer before and it was life changing. To feel so connected with nature and we felt a mutual respect between us and the Reindeer. It was beautiful and we will never forget the experience.

If you’d like to be involved in a future blog, please email/message us (FAO Hen) with your contribution of a small bit of text and preferably a photo too!

11th September 202030th August 2020

Velvet Antlers, Velvet Nose

This was my first attempt at writing a book about reindeer. Approached by the reputable publisher Hodder and Stoughton in 1994, the editor had heard me speaking on Radio 4 and thought my ramblings had the potential for a book.

It was, to say the least, a particularly busy time in our lives, with 2 children under the age of 6, a herd of reindeer we were trying to make a living from and a second site to where we not only had moved part of the herd, but were beginning to look at how we would farm the lower ground.

So we were stretched to the limits. Indeed the introduction to the book begins with ‘I must be crazy, definitely off my head, to agree to write a book. My day is already full and chaotic.’

But as the saying goes “ If you want something done, ask a busy person.”

The text of the book is interspersed with pages of photos, including this classic of Alex on my back as a toddler!

I would describe Velvet Antlers, Velvet Noses as written ‘from the heart’. The highs and lows of caring for such a special herd of reindeer. The stories of extraordinary people who dedicated their lives to successfully re-introducing them. And a crazy family called The Smith’s, who have carried on the legacy.

Alex, Tilly, Fiona and Alan back in the day. Look at those fresh faces!

From those early days of Alan and I becoming the proud owners of such a wonderful herd, the Cairngorm reindeer continue to go from strength to strength because of the dedication of the next generation. And this dedication has particularly shone through during these difficult times with the Coronavirus pandemic. Months of being closed, but with animals still to care for and hard choices to made.

Now we have opened partially it feels like a very long road ahead though with many of our normal income revenues needed; to feed reindeer, pay herders and the ability to ‘live’ normally looking like they are going to be curtailed for a long time to come.

The opening chapter of Velvet Antlers, Velvet Noses describes an incident at Christmas time when I took reindeer to a local playgroup in Aviemore. The memory is etched in my brain forever when the heavy door swung back prematurely knocking the poor reindeer Larch’s antler off! It was a one-off and occasions like this are part of the steep learning curve but re-reading it this morning reminded me of the pleasure people get from seeing reindeer at Christmas (hopefully not with an antler dropping off) and how this November and December will almost certainly be very different.

Crowds like this seem like a distant memory right now!

Training male reindeer to harness and going out and about at Christmas time doing street parades, displays and events is a really important source of income for the herd and bring a huge amount of pleasure to the general public and reindeer supporters each year. Sadly I suspect this will not happen as normal this year, for all the obvious reasons, lack of money in the high street, the importance of not attracting crowds and of course not wanting to inadvertently spread the virus or put our own herders at risk of it. So interesting times ahead.

As I write the Paddocks beside The Reindeer Centre remain closed and Hill Trips are limited by pre-booking only to remain small enough to observe social distancing rules. Luckily we have an extremely generous following of adopters, who help to support the herd by adopting a reindeer. This has been and continues to be a massive lifeline for us and I would like to thank you all from the ‘bottom of my heart’ for your amazing support.

Tilly

‘Velvet Antlers, Velvet Noses’ is long since out of print, but old copies can often be found online for purchase. Tilly’s latest book, ‘Reindeer: An Arctic Life’ is available, along with a couple of other books about the herd, via our website.