Herders – The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd

18th April 202513th March 2025

A busy day on the hill

Yesterday was one of the best sorts of reindeer herding days, almost entirely spent on the hill. Me and Fiona were due to help Tilly in the middle of the day, so we set off early to find the reindeer here on Cairngorm in the morning. The reindeer certainly made us work hard that morning as they were very high on the hill at roughly 950metres elevation, meaning we set straight off into a 400m climb! It was a windy day, and we had to pause a few times on route to brace ourselves as the gusts buffeted us. We could see the reindeer for much of the walk, and once we reached the same height as them, they were just the other side of a snow-covered burn. To save having to find a human suitable crossing, we called the reindeer to us, and they expertly navigated crossing the snow.

*Lapsang and Latte digging the front of their hooves into the snow.*

Video of reindeer crossing the snow.

The final section of snow that they had to cross was quite steep and it was amazing to see them jab the front points of their hooves, very purposefully into the snow. They looked like four legged mountaineers and used their front points much in the same way humans use crampons. It always amazes me to see how comfortable the reindeer are in difficult conditions that require us humans to have huge amounts of equipment and training to cope with. Fiona led the reindeer down to our chosen visit spot for the day and I had the lovely job of walking behind the reindeer. This can sometimes be a challenging job requiring lots of encouragement to keep the dawdlers at the back of the group moving. Yesterday though, the reindeer were moving well so I simply had the pleasure of moving with the herd.

*Chai keeping me company at the back of the group*.

Once we had fed the herd, we headed down the hill and drove over to help Tilly. At the moment half of our herd are free ranging on the hills in the Glenlivet estate, above our second base. Tilly had already got a big group of the reindeer into the coral, and we had the task of checking their temperatures and sorting some of the reindeer into different groups. We like to do regular temperature checks as it can give us an indication that a reindeer is unwell, before they are showing any other symptoms. By doing regular temperature checks it also means they are very used to the process, don’t find it in anyway stressful. In fact, yesterday many of the reindeer stood for us to take their temperatures without anyone even holding them.

*Tilly and Fiona with a group of reindeer in the corral*.

*A non-reindeer photo but I thought this display of lichen on one of the farm vehicles was particularly beautiful*.

Once we came off the hill, we drove back to Reindeer House for our last reindeer related job of the day. Three of our cows and calves had been free-ranging in Tilly’s group for the first part of the winter, we had then brought them back to join the herd on Cairngorm and Fiona, Ruth and I walked them back to meet the herd. Thankfully the herd hadn’t moved too far, we led the girls and let their calves follow them. As we were leaving the carpark we met a group who had spent the day learning winter skills, they professed that seeing the reindeer was the highlight of their day! Well done girls!! We then walked off the hill for the final important task of the day, a cuppa tea!

*Fiona and Ruth leading Feta and Christie back to the herd, I was leading Beanie, and you can see her calf, Coffee in the right of the photo*.

Lotti

11th April 202513th March 2025

Volunteer Blog: Emm’s visit in May 2024

My May Highlights

We returned in May and it was the calving season (Emm’s blog about her February visit can be found by clicking here). The calves are so cute and come in different colours which were silvery, dark brown, normal coloured, and ginger. They are so small and it was so lovely seeing the reindeer being mums to their calves. Some of the mums and younger calves were in the bottom corridor in the hill enclosure which we call the nursery. The mums and older calves were with the main reindeer herd in the main bit of the enclosure. It was so lovely seeing the calves suckling from their mums. Sometimes the mum would lick its tail or bum to encourage the calf to suckle. I saw calves nibbling on their mum ears. The calves would run often over to their mums grunting or the mums would run over to their calves grunting. Reindeer are normally quiet animals apart from calving time and rutting time and it was lovely to see them communicate. My first time handling a calf was when I held Feta’s calf whilst Hen took the calf’s temperature. Most of the reindeer are ok with you going near their calves but Brie was very protective of her calf so we had to be careful around her and her calf.

Emm holding Feta’s calf who we later named Earl Grey as has turned into one of the biggest calves of 2024.

Helsinki’s calf was premature and was so tiny so we kept them by the shed in the hill enclosure so we could keep an eye on them. We went to check them several times a day and were encouraging the calf to suckle. We bottle fed the calf with goat’s milk as Helsinki didn’t have much milk to begin with. Later on in the week, Helsinki and her calf joined the other mums and calves in the nursery as she was producing more milk and the calf was suckling on its own. The calf got much stronger and was doing so well.

Helsinki and her wee boy, who we later named Irish. Despite a rocky start to life Irish is doing well and has grown into a very tame and laid-back fella!

When reindeer are about to give birth, they tend to go away from the herd and find a high place as they are very private animals when giving birth. One day, Christie was missing from the main herd. Lisette went to find her and found Christie with her newborn calf. Later that day Cassie and Amy went to get Christie and her newborn calf and to take them to the nursery.

Lisette’s photo of Christie and new-born Espresso!

During our visit there was a fundraising scheme launched to raise money towards the new Centre. I decided to help support it by taking a swim in Loch Morlich. I am not an outdoor swimming person as I hate cold water. I am more a hot tub person! So, it was big challenge for me to swim in the loch. It was very cold as the water was still coming from snow patches from the Cairngorms. It was very special day as my herding friends, who love outdoor swimming, came and supported me and Tilly and her grandchildren joined in. Even the herder’s dogs joined in too and with everyone’s encouragement I raised £1000 for the new Reindeer Centre. We went for a drink and a meal afterwards at The Pine Marten Bar to warm up and celebrate.

Emm with the hat on and the herders in the loch. Go Emm!!

Following on from my visit in February I went again to Tilly’s farm with Amy. We helped take temperatures and the younger reindeer had an injection to help stop ticks. I was in charge of putting reindeer on head collars and holding them and was able to catch up with some of the reindeer. Winnie and Alba, two hand-reared reindeer who had just turned one year old, looked really well. Also, Elbe (Alba’s twin) who was looking really well too. We took seven reindeer back to the hill enclosure from the farm, Clouseau, Olmec, Aztec, Frost, Zoom, Zap and 99. Tilly tied Aztec and Clouseau the older boys to her quad bike whilst she drove slowly down with them following the quad bike very nicely. We led them down the hill to “Brenda” the reindeer truck. We went back and with help we took the seven reindeer up to the hill enclosure. I led Zoom and Olmec up to the hill enclosure.

One day Vanilla, who is leucistic (white), had a hoof trim. It was interesting to find out that leucistic reindeer hooves grow faster than a normal coloured reindeer. Leucistic reindeer are white, have blue eyes and sometimes are born deaf.

The building of the new Reindeer Centre was going well when I was there. At the beginning of the week, Tilly and Cameron gave me a tour of the new building which was just the walls going up. At the end of my stay Tilly gave me with Ann and Sheena another tour and the change in just a week was so amazing. The roof was on and the first floor in. It seemed to be going up very quickly.

One morning during the breakfast feed for the reindeer, we did a mock filming session. People who can’t get up the hill to see the reindeer will be able to experience a reindeer hill visit through a film at the new Reindeer Centre in the exhibition. We walked to the reindeer, fed the reindeer, counted them and chilled with them whilst being filmed for a practice run.

Emm

21st February 202523rd February 2025

Volunteer Blog: Emm’s visit in February 2024

I was lucky enough last year to visit and work with the reindeer three times in 2024, February, May and September. I had many different experiences and I thought I would tell you about my highlights with the reindeer and herders during the year.

You’ll be able to find May and September’s highlights in future blogs!

My February Highlights

Emm with one of her favourite reindeer, Scully!

Our first visit was in February so the weather was still very cold with snow on the mountains. At this time of year the reindeer are free-ranging so each morning there was a visit up the mountain to find them and bring them to a suitable spot for the later hill trip. The reindeer would often be very high up and we would struggle to get them down if they ignored our calls so we would have to go and fetch them. My first trip up the mountain was with Ruth and Cameron. We walked up a steep slope as we thought they were in the gully but we soon realised they were somewhere else on the other side of the ridge we were looking at! We continued calling for a bit hoping they would come but they didn’t so we turned round to return to the carpark and tried another path to find them. At this stage the weather had turned into a raging snowy blizzard, it was very cold and the wind was strong. As we were about to pick up our bags, we turned around and saw half of the reindeer herd running towards us through the snow. It was a magical feeling to see the reindeer run towards us in such snowy conditions and the other half of the herd joined us a few minutes later. It was so amazing how deep the snow had got with the very heavy snow.

On another occasion with Amy and Cameron again to find the reindeer on the free range for the Hill Trip. We went to the visit spot for that day and called them. Some walkers on the ridge were looking down at us wondering what we were doing! The reindeer didn’t appear, so we had to fetch them which meant a hike across a stream and up a very steep hill to a ridge, then up the ridge going very high. We finally found them all sitting chilling on a rocky hill and ignoring our calls! To get them to the visit spot Amy and I led at the front calling them with a bag of feed to encourage them, Okapi leading the herd. Cameron herded at the back of the herd. Okapi was brilliant at the front, it was so amazing seeing them jump easily over the stream we had to cross. At the visit spot I gave Okapi some food out of the hand feed bag for being such a brilliant leader.

Emm on a Hill Trip with Christie closest to the camera.

The highest I have ever been on the free range in the Cairngorms was on a trip with Andi. It was a lovely day and we had fantastic views. Andi was at the front with a bag of feed whilst I was herding them at the back. Popsicle was limping so when we got to the Hill Trip spot, I checked her temperature and Andi checked her leg but she was ok. The trips were a chance to check the reindeer. On one visit I helped Fiona take Scully and Yukon off the free range as Yukon was limping and was very lame. Yukon is Scully’s calf so we brought Scully off too. I led Yukon whilst Fiona led Scully. It was very snowy and misty. We put them in the Paddocks in Glenmore with access to the shed, next to the Reindeer Centre. Later on that week the vet saw Yukon and gave him a Xray. It showed it wasn’t broken and that he had probably torn a ligament. I did an afternoon Hill Trip with Andi on the top ridge in the hill enclosure and afterwards we took the hill enclosure reindeer onto the free range. Some visitors came with us. I led the reindeer out of the hill enclosure gate and shook the feed bag so they all came out. We were hoping to meet up with the reindeer group on the free range and had a very big surprise when they came running over to us and the two groups joined up as one big herd. It was so amazing seeing them coming running over and there was lots of clashing of antlers from the two groups to establish the pecking order. It was so brilliant seeing them all on the free range. Amur kept licking my hand.

Pinto and the herd on a high snowy ridge.

During this visit I was kindly invited to go curling with them something which was completely new to me. I learnt how to throw the stone and sweep and then played a few games. It was very exciting and so brilliant. My team were the yellow stones and we lost against the red stones team but it was such great fun. We went for a meal afterwards and Nan, one of the reindeer house’s dogs, was there and I got to give her a cuddle. Nan is one of Tuva’s puppies. Later in the week I got to see Sheena’s dog, Ginger, who had six puppies. They were only two weeks old and very cute. I helped Sheena weigh them to make sure they were growing well. I also helped out with another of the Reindeer House dogs, Dug, with walks at the back of the Reindeer Centre on the tracks and in the woods which was such great fun.

Emm, Sheena, Ginger and one of her gorgeous pups!

Some of the herd were over at Tilly’s farm so I went over one day with Andi and Amy . We went up on to our second winter grazing site to find the free ranging herd and to feed them and check their temperatures. We went in a buggy and it was a bumpy track, across little streams and going very high up with beautiful views. When the reindeer saw the buggy, they ran over and surrounded us as they associated it with food. We took their temperatures and checked them all. It was such an amazing view made more special by the reindeer. More reindeer appeared running down a hill while we were there including Frost. I was able to walk around the reindeer, chill with them and take photos before we went back to Tilly’s farm in the buggy.

Emm, Amy and Andi enjoying a bumpy ride in the buggy!

Some of the free rangers at our second site.

The building works for the new Centre had started and there was a big hole where the Paddocks used to be and it was now a building site with diggers. Despite the building work one day I saw a wildcat walk across the old reindeer shed area the top of the big hole in the Paddocks. It turned to look at me then carried on. It turns out it was one of the wildcats released locally and her name is Callie and she had a collar on.

Emm

14th February 202524th January 2025

A free range mission…

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.

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!

Amy

10th January 202510th January 2025

New Christmas Reindeer 2024

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!

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.

Fiona

20th December 202420th December 2024

Differences and similarities between Highland cattle and reindeer: part 2

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!

Relaxing:

Reindeer or cattle, they all do love a bit of relaxing time!!

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!

Selfies:

Reindeer and cattle don’t mind a selfie or close-up photo either!

Cow and calf:

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).

Lisette

13th December 202412th December 2024

Differences and similarities between Highland cattle and reindeer: part 1

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.

Some lovely calves from the Cairngorm reindeer herd.

Roman, a very impressive reindeer bull, in September 2021.

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.

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.

Juniper and Sundae in the middle of a snowy herd.

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.

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.

Stay tuned for part 2 next week…!

Lisette

22nd November 202414th November 2024

Thanks to this year’s volunteers!

I thought I’d write a wee blog to thank everyone who has come to volunteer for us this year. However, if you’ve volunteered in a previous year, please don’t be remotely offended if you’ve not found your name in a blog like this – it’s literally only because I have a few spare minutes and Ruth (blog master) is sitting next to me… so probably time I wrote a blog once again. Gotta keep her sweet…

Volunteering this year has had a slightly different feel to it, as the Paddocks normally take up a considerable amount of a volunteer’s time each day; poo-picking, sweeping, opening and closing them each day, chatting to visitors out there… But this year that aspect has vanished completely, so volunteers have been able to be a bit more ‘relaxed’ during their week, sometimes not starting until gone 10am. Unheard of in the past! Although sadly this luxury was not afforded to us full-time herders… Volunteers this year have therefore spent the majority of their time helping us on the Hill Trips, usually twice a day, with rather less time spent pottering about down at the Centre.

Caitlin joined us for a week in August. Here she is with Hemp and Limpopo in the hill enclosure.

Normally we take volunteers each year from May to October, but long-term regular volunteer Emm is afforded special status, often coming outwith these months. She managed three stints this year, and you’ll find many blogs over the years from her on our website, the most recent (at time of writing) being here. We love having Emm here to volunteer!

Emm with her adopted reindeer Mo, braving the weather at a very cold and wet local Christmas event a few years back.

Emm in September this year with Cowboy and Mivvi.

I’ve just peered at the wall calendar here in the office and counted 26 other volunteers who gave up a week of their time to come and help us this year – as ever from all walks of life and ranging in age from 18 to late 60s (I’m guessing – apologies if I’ve offended and congratulations if I’ve flattered!). We love this range of people from all walks of life – it’s much more interesting for us to have a stream of totally different people here every week than it would be to get people all of like mind.

Of those 26 people 12 were returnees, which I guess means we must be doing something right! There’s an element of apprehension for us on a Monday morning when a ‘new’ volunteer is due to arrive, not knowing what to expect of someone – the scant info we gather in the application form only goes so far to give us an idea of what someone will be like. This year everyone, new or returnee, has been absolutely wonderful though, so we never needed to worry.

Stephanie returned for a week in June of this year, the third year on the trot! Stephanie is pictured doing a very important volunteer job – offering the slightly leaner youngsters some extra food at the end of a Hill Trip. Yukon is delighted!

So huge thanks must go to all 26 lovely volunteers, in order only of when they visited: Victoria, Jayne (who wrote a lovely blog you can read here – thanks Jayne!), Anne, Kerry, Rachel C, Marcus, Stephanie, Anna, Wendy, Aleksandra, Becca, Rachel S, Jocelyn, Nora, Caitlin, Katie, Callum, Helen, Christine, Karen, Sharon, Colin, Sophie, Lisa, Emily and Brenda. You are all amazing! A special shout-out to Nora, who at 18 was our youngest volunteer but also the furthest travelled – having persuaded family to come on holiday to Scotland from Washington D.C. in the States, so she could spend a week of that time with us!

Rachel S joined us in July for a second time. This is herder Kate with Dr Seuss and Ärta (left) and Rachel with Ob and Iskrem (right) helping out with harness training.

One of the main responsibilities of a volunteer is helping out on Hill Trips, carrying food, helping dish out the hand feed, and talking to our visitors. This is Alex who helped out in July for a week doing a sterling job of not letting Jelly in to the white bag!

Another person to mention is 14 year old Maisie, who lives locally and is the daughter of family friends of the Smiths. This year Maisie has been joining us on some days in the school holidays and has been wonderful, super chatty and sociable for such a young lass, and always keen to get involved and help out. She’s also very fit, being into lots of outdoor sports, so puts me to shame anytime I’m on the hill with her!

Borlotti saying hello to the lovely Maisie!

And the final person to mention who’s a constant help throughout the year is Carol. Carol started out as an adopter, living relatively locally, and has progressed to being a regular volunteer, helping on the Hill Trips most weekends. She has finely honed her hand-feeding talk over the years and now has the groups listening with bated breath!

For anyone reading this that is thinking that a week’s reindeer herding sounds like a fit for them, why not come and join us?! We start booking in each season’s volunteers each January, so drop us an email then if you’re interested and we’ll send you an application form. We can’t provide accommodation unfortunately, but there is both a campsite and a youth hostel within a couple of hundred metres, not to mention a huge amount of other accommodation elsewhere in the area.

But finally, I will finish on a sad note. Our wonderful long term volunteer Paul, who visited for a fortnight twice a year for around 25 years, initially with wife Pat – sadly passed away in his mid-eighties this summer. Paul was a retired joiner and so built all sorts of things here over the years, mixed all the feed for the reindeer and generally made everything wobbly and creaky into something strong and stable. He could talk the hind legs off a donkey, keeping us constantly entertained with his stories, and did his best to get us all drunk in the evening at least once during each stay! We will miss him hugely.

Paul with Olympic, his adopted reindeer.

To you, good sir, we raise a dram.

Hen

8th November 20247th November 2024

Catching Coffee

All summer our cows and calves free-range in the Cairngorms. Finding all the best spots to graze and generally keeping themselves to themselves. At the end of the summer, the temperature starts to drop on the tops of the hills, this brings the reindeer lower down and coincides with us bringing the cows and calves back into the enclosure. We bring them in partly so we can train the calves, who are now 3-4 months old and so we can bring the females in for the rut, which is held in the hill enclosure.

For many of the reindeer, bringing them in consists of spying a group of them on the lower slopes of Cairngorm. Calling them, catching a couple of the adults and walking them into the enclosure with any calves following through the gate. For a few of the reindeer things are a little trickier. Some of them walk off the hills into different glens and have to be fetched in Brenda, our livestock truck. If these groups are adults then it is easy enough to catch them and walk them into the truck to bring them home again. Sometimes though, the group includes calves, who are not yet halter trained. That’s when things get a little trickier.

In this case our group consisted of almost all adults apart from Beanie’s calf, who we have named Coffee. I had seen Beanie and Coffee earlier in the week and he had been very shy (fair enough having not seen many people all summer), he hadn’t wanted to follow Beanie and the other reindeer that I had haltered up and eventually I had let Beanie go so that she could go and find Coffee. I knew that catching him would need a bit of patience.

*Beanie and Coffee with Tap and Sundae behind*, on the day that Coffee did not want to follow!

*Northern white-tailed bumblebee on a Devil’s Bit Scabious flower.*

I headed out into the hills, up through the woodland (passing this beautiful bumble bee who I thought deserved a mention) and managed to find the group of reindeer. Ironically Gaelic name of the hill I found them on translates as the ‘hill of the gathering’. I was delighted to see that the entire group were very friendly and greedy, setting a good example to young Coffee. I knew I had a good couple of hours to win him over before Ruth and Isla could come out to meet me and help with the actual catching as they were currently taking the morning hill trip. That left me with a very wonderful job, hang out with a lovely herd of reindeer, eat my lunch and generally try to be calm and approachable.

Darling feasting on lots of lovely lichen. Coffee lurking behind!

Lotti and Coffee who was slowly becoming braver!

Isla sitting patiently whilst Lotti and Ruth catch Coffee.

For the first hour or so, Beanie and the other greedy girls were at my side at all times. Coffee stayed within view but a good distance away. Over the next couple of hours he got closer and closer until he was within a couple of feet of me, he even started kicking my rucksack at one point. Rude!

Fairly soon after this a hill walker came past and chatted to me, Coffee ran off at first but then fairly quickly re-appeared clearly realising that he wasn’t a threat – all great desensitisation. Next, Ruth and Isla both arrived. Again Coffee was a little unsure at first, but very quickly came back over to investigate. Ruth managed to hide her body behind Beanie and get a hold of the Coffee’s back leg, after which I was able to put a halter on him. Inevitably, Coffee was pretty unimpressed at first and spent the first few minutes pulling on the rope. He walked him off the hill along with Beanie and 4 other young females. By the time we had reached the woodland, he was munching away on mushrooms and seemed to mostly have forgotten about the halter around his face.

Isla with two single cows and Lotti behind with Beanie and Coffee.

We drove the reindeer back to Glenmore and walked him up to our hill enclosure which is where he is just now still. It can be a bit of a baptism of fire catching a calf out on the hill like that but doesn’t affect their training. Coffee has spent the last couple of months in our hill enclosure getting tamer and tamer and more recently, has been halter trained properly. If you’d like to read back on how we halter train our calves, then read this blog, written way back in 2015.

Lotti

1st November 202420th October 2024

Reindeer around food

For anyone that has visited the reindeer on a Hill Trip, you’ll know that we do a small talk about the reindeer before we feed them. If I’m not the person chatting, I like to stand back and enjoy the mischief that the reindeer come up with when they’re getting impatient waiting for their food. There are a few techniques that the reindeer use to try and get their food early and I thought it would make an amusing blog for you wonderful readers.

The final talk on a Hill Trip where a herder introduces people to the reindeer and we aim to tell you about some of their fascinating adaptations for life in the sub Arctic. We can get very distracted by misbehaving reindeer!

The green feed bag is like a magnet for our reindeer! Here’s Mivvi following Sheena down the hill.

Considering that reindeer have epic senses of smell, it isn’t surprising that they can sniff out where the food is (and to be honest we don’t hide it either) their food is carried up to the reindeer in big green sacks, so they’re super obvious. If one of us (herders) is taking a Hill Trip by ourselves, we are conducting a talk whilst trying to deter reindeer snuffling about our feed bags, kicking our bags or even trying to bite through the bags! Which I suspect leads to great entertainment for our visitors. So having an extra pair of hands there is always appreciated. Now down to the good stuff…

The first technique is to kick the feed sack, obviously in the hopes that food may fall out. But as you can imagine those big feet can cause a bit of damage to our poor feed sacks. Whilst chatting away, you will have a group of keen reindeer pawing away at the bag which is really distracting!

The worst culprits for this are usually the yearlings as through the previous winter they received preferential feeding from the green sacks and I suspect they’re frustrated that they can’t now eat from the bags- quite rightly so, extra food is always awesome!

This photo is from early spring 2024 when the ‘black tags’ (those born in spring 2023) were still getting preferential food. It’s a tough lesson when they realise they’re not the youngest in the herd anymore and not invited into the bag anymore. Some learn pretty quickly. Others are still struggling with the concept after years (yes you, Holy Moley aged 4 and Dr Seuss aged 7).

The 2024 calves feeding out of the bag first this September – the poor black tags have a bit of a shock when they are shooed away!

Isla and Cassie allowing the calves in the bag first to feed whilst the adult reindeer have to wait for the food to go out on the ground. Hemp is up on his hind legs in the background – pushing another reindeer away and making sure he gets to stand as close as possible to the bags!

Sometimes you just can’t wait like Yangtze as a calf mugging Joe!

For the next tactic, one specific reindeer comes to mind, and that is Magnum a very handsome 2-year-old who loves to chew our feed sacks and create holes from which he can steal food from. He is very skilled at it and if you’re not paying attention can quickly break his way through our feed sacks. Due to the way that we herders carry the food up the hill, holey bags lead to reindeer food going down the back of our shirts, which isn’t a great feeling.

Magnum trying to make a hole in our bag mid talk! It seems a bit mean to chase him away in front of our lovely visitors when that’s their first impression of the herd but he’s destroyed so many bags! He is relentless and it can be very distracting when we’re trying to tell people how lovely all our reindeer are.

If kicking the sack hasn’t worked, some reindeer then rush over to the visitors in anticipation for the sweet snack they get while visitors hand feed. This can often happen straight away, happening as soon as we have stopped the group to chat to visitors. Once the reindeer have had a quick smell of folks’ pockets, they will head back to the feed sack again. Yearlings Nile and Elbe are guilty of this and are prone to getting right into peoples faces hoping for food.

This is Beret! She’s now learnt how hand feeding works, but it took her a while to cotton on! She spent a whole winter (gently) jumping on people and rubbing her face on our visitors to see if she then got hand feed. Photo: Yvonne Bannister

Hemp being his usual cheeky self! We don’t allow our visitors to touch the reindeer but the rule doesn’t work both ways. Hemp is probably one of the worst culprits for touching visitors. This is him rubbing his face on somebody’s bag! Thankfully this lovely visitor found the experience funny, but for our more nervous visitors this cheeky behavior can be overwhelming so it’s certainly not encouraged!

One of the final techniques I will mention is the puppy dog eye approach. This usually occurs when the group has dispersed, and visitors are off taking pictures of reindeer. Herders will stand holding the empty feed bag and a few reindeer like Druid, Bordeaux, and Olympic will stand next to us patiently waiting for extra food to come their way. Don’t tell the reindeer, but this is usually the best way to manipulate a herder into giving them extra food! When it comes to some of the tamer reindeer, like Nile, Winnie and Elbe puppy dog eyes progress into snuffling through human pockets, leaning their heads on humans and general personal space invasion until they break us herders and we give in.

The Druid approach: “any food in that white bag of yours?”

A classic Bordeaux face – hard to resist!

Elbe making sure herder Hannah can’t miss him!

Amy