April has flown by. The first half of the month busy with the Easter holidays. We’ve had some wonderful Hill Trips both out on the free range and also in our hill enclosure here on Cairngorm. Although not much spring weather it has to be said.
The second half of the month was busy with moving reindeer around getting them in the right places for the fast-approaching calving season. Most pregnant females have been brought into our hill enclosure now and the “single ladies” (the old girls, young girls, or ones having a year off motherhood) were put back out to free range. We’ve also brought the first males back into the enclosure after their winter free ranging at our second site. Lovely to see some of the boys back.
The office has also been busy as always – my jobs have included newsletter preparation, working on adoption packs, preparing the 2025 reindeer calendar (wahoo – it’s just gone to print), trying to up our social media game, sorting emails, drinking tea…
It’s been a fun month watching antlers casting and growing, and bellies widen on our pregnant females. Bring on the first calf of 2024!
2nd of April: Moving the herd with Lisette at the back doing a wonderful job as ‘sheep dog’!3rd of April: Danube with her tongue out!5th of April: Juniper and Sundae in a blizzard!6th of April: Fern and Okapi soon to be 17 and 16 years old respectively are the first over at the feed bag!8th of April: Sunshine!! A rare sight this month. Moving the herd into position for our Hill Trip.15th of April: Dr Seuss is back in the enclosure after a winter free ranging in the hills. He’s clearly feeling snoozy after the Hill Trip. He takes his role as chief hand-feeder incredibly seriously!17th of April: Sunny (our hand-reared calf from 2022) was back in the hill enclosure for a short while and followed me back to the gate just like he used to as a young calf!16th of April: These 11-month-old calves get to feed out of the bag for another month before they turn into “yearlings”. Orinoco is the cutie closest to camera. 18th of April: Mushy, Spy, Dante, Ladybird, Sambar and Sunny.22nd of April: Sherlock looking handsome with those big velvet antlers.23rd of April: A lovely morning with Tilly on the hill. 24th of April: I headed over to the farm to help Tilly with a farm tour. Lovely to see some of the boys I haven’t seen much of this winter, like Druid here!24th of April: The lovely Hemp!
A few years ago, Andi started a series of blogs titled Dynasties after watching the David Attenborough series with the same title. These highlighted matriarchs within the herd, in particular some of our most successful breeders. I thought I would continue this theme and in this blog I will write about Spy. I have only know Spy as an adult reindeer, and she has always been notorious for being a feisty girl, in fact you can read an entire blog about why we are all a little afraid of Spy, written a couple of years ago by Hen: Spy – the reindeer we’re all a bit scared of – The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd.
Spy with some of the most beautiful (and pointy) antlers in our herd.Spy at 7 years old.
Whilst she is fairly wild most of the time, she becomes particularly terrifying when she has a newborn calf. Most of the reindeer, particularly the older mums are quite happy for us to be nearby their calves, knowing we won’t cause them any harm. Spy however will absolutely not let you anywhere near any of her calves, if you read through Hen’s blog linked above it will tell you all about the different tactics required at calving time. Whilst we curse Spy lots of the time, her fierce protection of her offspring makes her a fantastic mother and she has raised now 4 strong female calves; Morven, Dante, Florence and Sundae. In fact, all 11 of Spy’s surviving descendants are female, guaranteeing the continuation of her genetics.
Spy feeding Florence.
Morven was born in 2015 and was named in the ‘Scottish hill races’ theme. Morven has always been a fairly independent reindeer, like her mother. She’s definitely tamer but you still wouldn’t always guarantee being able to catch her out on the free-range. She’s one of the strongest and healthiest reindeer in our herd and herself has now had two daughters of her own, Pinto and Mochi.
Morven as a calf.Morven showing off her beautiful antlers.
Pinto was born in 2020 and despite being one of our Covid calves, is tamer than her mother yet again. It seems as though with each generation, Spy is diluted a little. Pinto has now had her first calf, the incredibly sweet Orinoco who was born last year. Orinoco is very sweet and tame, but not pushy at all, making her a favourite amongst herders. Mochi is also a real sweetie, she is now almost two years old but due to being one of the smallest of her year is often mistaken for a calf, which sometimes results in her getting preferential feeding along with the calves which she’s certainly not complaining about.
Pinto free-ranging in the winter.Orinoco on the free range aged 4 months old and clearly very relaxed in our presence already. Mochi as a calf, who looks much like her mum at the same age.
Dante was born in 2017 and is without a doubt one of the prettiest members of our herd. She also grows an impressive set of antlers each year, even whilst rearing a calf at the same time. Dante whilst also shy in nature, through years of bribery is now reliable to catch and a lovely reindeer to work with. She herself has now had three daughters, Mangetout, Glacée and Amazon.
Dante as a 2 year old.Dante fully grown.
Mangetout is now fully grown and mother herself, but I couldn’t resist this photo of her as a newborn calf! Mangetout is also tame enough to reliably catch, but occasionally granny Spy shines through as she shows us her beautiful (and pointy) antlers! Mangetout had her own calf this year who we have named Darling. There was some controversy over whether we would name a calf Darling, after the river in Australia. Some of the herders thinking it was a bit too ‘cute’. In the end we thought if we gave is to Mangetout’s calf (Spy’s great-granddaughter) she would almost certainly turn out to be the opposite! So far she has proved us wrong and is generally a lovely reindeer, although can be a bit of a menace if you try to stand between her and a bag of feed.
Mangetout as a new born calf in 2020.Mangetout at 3 years old.Darling with mum behind.
Dante’s middle daughter Glacée is now almost two and like her big sister, was also given a French name, the word for ice cream. Glacée is very recognisable as she’s got a big white tuft of hair between her antlers! Amazon, her younger sister, is without a doubt the most impressive calf born last year. Her antlers are absolutely huge, with elaborate splits in them and she’s just as tall as many of the yearlings.
GlacéeAmazon as a calf, already being mistaken for a yearling.
Florence is the next down in Spy’s daughters. She was born in 2019 as is named after the Italian city. I would say she is tamer yet again than either of her sisters, she is the spit of her mother in looks but temperament wise is much calmer. Florence has calved just once, and very sadly he didn’t survive his first summer. Florence is almost 5 so I have no doubt she will have many more breeding years in the herd and will go on to produce just as many wonderful reindeer as either of her sisters.
Spy and Florence.Florence at almost 3 years old.
Sundae is the youngest and last of Spy’s daughters. She was born in 2022 and named after an ice cream Sundae. Sundae has got a white nose, which she gets from her dad, Spartan. The rest of her features, including the big white rings around her eyes and her large slightly floppy ears, are all Spy! Sundae is now almost two years old and has lost her antlers a bit earlier than some of the others so currently spends feeding time doing her very best calf impression to sneak into the ‘calf only’ green feed sacs. Who can blame her though!
Sundae as a calf with Spy behind.Sundae and Spy a year later, still side by side.
Spy will be thirteen this year so whilst her breeding days are now behind her (cue huge sigh of relief from all the reindeer herders involved in calving season), her legacy will be continued by all her offspring. She currently has 4 daughters, 5 grand-daughters and 2 great-granddaughters, all of whom are either at breeding age or will be in the next couple of years. There is definitely no fear of the Spy line dying out in our herd, but diluting her ‘Spyness’ a little with each generation, is definitely no bad thing!
November has been a busy month. We’ve had the first decent snow higher up on the hills, the free ranging reindeer have been showing their beautiful faces at the hill enclosure every few days, adoptions are coming in thick and fast so lots of letters are streaming out of the office, sleigh training has continued in Glenmore and the first Christmas teams have been on the road! The ‘Christmas reindeer’ have all been totally super and have made us very proud. So this truly is a mixed bag of pics that I’ve taken over the past few weeks! Enjoy…
1st of November: Feeding a herd of free ranging cows. Caterpillar is closest to the camera.3rd of November: Brie looking very soggy!3rd of November: Poirot looking very handsome.6th of November: Dante getting a close-up.7th of November: Winnie and Cameron! Cameron did a lot of bottle feeding of Winnie and Alba (our han-reared calves) over the summer months and is particularly fond of ‘his girls’.8th of November: For Isla (back of sleigh) and Cassie (front of sleigh) this is their first Christmas season, but they are total naturals already. Frost is the reindeer with the patchy white face at the front.12th of November: No reindeer in this pic but what a wonderful office we have above the clouds! You can just make out the thick layer of cloud hanging over Strathspey.15th of November: 6-month-old Orinoco being gorgeous! She’s a sweet-natured lass who is growing in confidence. She’s definitely not as pushy as some of our calves this year!16th of November: Marple and her lovely calf Mekong.18th of November: My first Christmas event of the year. Here’s LX resting his chin before he pulls the sleigh.19th of November: Another Christmas event for me. Here’s Olmec licking the rain off our sign.22nd of November: Dr Seuss flanked by Haricot and Adzuki.23rd of November: The free ranging herd brought themselves into the enclosure looking for a free lunch! Torch closest to the camera.
I was very lucky to be volunteering with the herd for 8 days in December last year over Christmas. Fiona had said I could help with the Christmas parades that they were due to do. It was my first Christmas working with the reindeer and it was really magical and special experience.
A Fantastic Surprise at the start.
Once we got to Scotland, I had a few days off before I started work with the reindeer. There was so much snow so I was very excited. One of the days we went to Landmark in Carrbridge and my Mum and Dad said it was one of my early Christmas Presents and that there was going to be a surprise.
The surprise was that the reindeer were there!! I was so excited when we found the reindeer pen with Ruth and Mel the herders and the reindeer were Druid, Olmec, Poirot, Berlin and the 2 calves were Sorbet and Lolly. I think we also surprised Ruth and Mel with us turning up. Lol. It was funny to see the pen was next to dinosaur land and there was a gigantic T-Rex looking over the top but thankfully Fiona had made sure the noises were turned off otherwise the reindeer could have been very scared. We took all six reindeer for a walk around Landmark with Santa. I was allowed to help and led Druid whilst Santa led Poirot. It was amazing to see Poirot so calm as it was the first year Poirot was one of the Christmas Reindeer having been a breeding bull in October 2021. He used to charge at the fence protecting his girls and was very aggressive then. He was castrated in August 2022 and he became much calmer and became a Christmas Reindeer. I helped load the reindeer into the back of the lorry at the end and it was such a brilliant day and a fantastic surprise.
Poirot and Santa.Emm helping out at Landmark!Sorbet and Lolly – the calves at Landmark, with T-rex looming in the background.
Snow, Ice and Tamer Calves
A snowy Utsi’s Bridge.
It was very snowy, cold and icy in the first few days once I started and on my first morning, we took reindeer who had come back from Christmas events up onto the hill from the paddocks. There were adult reindeer and calves. I led Poirot, my first time leading a reindeer in snowy and icy conditions. Andi had to dig a massive snow drift away from one of the gates in the hill enclosure as we couldn’t get through. When you walked on the snow, you didn’t know how deep it was so you had to be careful that you didn’t suddenly sink in! It was so icy Andi gritted some of the path for the Hill Trip visitors then I helped Andi worm the reindeer which was giving medicine to keep them healthy and clear of worm infection. I held onto the lead rope and put a few head collars on to the calves who were much tamer than when I was up last in October. They had grown lots too. Zoom the calf (the one who had been found on it’s own on the free-range) was so tame and would follow me and Andi around with the hand feed bribery bag whilst we were trying to catch the calves and put them on head collars. Zoom is best buddies with Sunny the hand reared reindeer calf.
Walking up to the enclosure in the snow.
In the few days before the big Christmas parades I did lots of duties in the paddocks and Reindeer House, made up the first-year adoption packs, helped file adoption leaflets away and packed adoption gifts and made feed mix with Lisette. Poo picking in the ice and snow was a new experience (you had to make sure you didn’t slip over and fall in the poo!). One morning Tilly was on Zoe Ball breakfast show on Radio 2 and we all listened to it on the radio. She was talking about the reindeer and Zoe Ball was very interested. Tilly was very good giving lots of information. Another day Joe had an interview for a BBC radio show in the paddocks before we opened. It seemed everyone wanted to know about the reindeer this time of year and our Cairngorm Reindeer Herd were very famous. There were still Christmas events happening and I helped Cameron mix the food then bagged it up for one event that Ruth was doing in Gleneagles.
The BBQ hut already for Santa’s arrival.
There were also things happening at Reindeer House with Christmas fun in the paddocks. I talked to people in the paddocks telling them all about the reindeer and also did meet and greet at times explaining what was happening during the Christmas fun. There was a Christmas quiz for people to do and all the herders wore their Christmas jumpers. Santa was in the BBQ hut where he could meet and talk to the children. There were herder talks and people could see the reindeer. The paddocks were decorated for Christmas and children were able to write letters to Santa and post them. Joe was making Christmas jokes all the time and advertising the Naked Herder’s Charity Calendar as well which went on to make a lot of money for the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team. When I restocked shop there was Christmas music playing in the office.
The hill trips were also really magical. On one trip Gloriana was cleaning her calf by licking it when lying on a snow patch which was really lovely to see. I was able to do the hand feed talk on a few occasions and it was so special that the herders trusted me to tell everyone the important information. Some hill enclosure gates had massive snow drifts so we had to use other gates and walking on snow drifts was difficult as you would sink in suddenly knee deep in snow. One day the snow gates were closed on the main road but we were allowed up to the Sugarbowl car park. This was the first time I had seen them closed. The snow gates opened an hour later. When we got up to the enclosure we moved the ice and snow cleared the path of ice and snow with shovels and our feet.
Emm and Lotti!
The reindeer on the free-range could come and go as they wanted. We left the gate to the top corridor open so most of the free-rangers could come in to feed and we could count and I.D them. I did this one day with Cameron and Lisette. We wrote their ear tag numbers down and checked herd list in the shed. It was lovely to see that the mum’s and calves stay together a lot of the time eating the same pile of food and lying down together. The mothers looking after their calves like Christie licking Gelato. Another day the free-rangers had moved to the top ski car park and I went with Sheena and Cameron to find them. One day Hen and Andi had to go to the top of Silvermount to get the reindeer as they were not coming down to the usual calls.
Iskrem and Emmental in the snow.
The other thing we had to do was split off the reindeer for the paddocks and Christmas events from the herd when they were needed and move them down from the hill enclosure and then bring them back up when they had finished so we were very busy. On one of the days I took Frost, Dr Seuss and Nuii up the hill with Andi. I was leading at the front with Dr Seuss and my job was to look out for dogs as the reindeer are very scared of dogs as they think they are wolves. I had to make sure the others stayed close behind me as they like to stick together in a group. When we were at the hill enclosure we let Nuii, the calf, off the head collar first before the adults so that they didn’t panic.
Being the most recent person to start working at the Reindeer Centre I am experiencing the day-to-day workings of the Centre throughout the seasons for the first time. I thought I would write about one of my favourite “firsts” to date, which is finding the first calf to be born for the 2022 season. It was a beautiful day at the tail end of April, which happened to be my first day back at work after my usual two days off and Andi’s first day back at work after a holiday. We started our usual morning routine and set off from the house to head up to the enclosure to check on our pregnant cows and feed them, upon feeding the cows we realised that one reindeer was missing, so we grabbed our calving bag which includes: feed for the mother, spot on and antibiotic blue spray for the calf’s naval and made a start on searching the enclosure. For anyone that hasn’t been to our enclosure it is a vast amount of space to search, the perimeter line is 8km in length alone! The missing reindeer was the lovely, four year old, Dante.
We headed along the top ridge of the enclosure to check a well-known calving area up there, but the missing reindeer was nowhere to be seen so we continued climbing to the summit of Silver Mount in search of Dante. Keeping with the theme of many “first” experiences, this was also my first time being on and seeing the summit of Silver Mount, which has glorious views of the Northern Corries, Loch Morlich and down onto Glenmore. Luckily for us, Dante was also at the summit of Silver Mount.
Looking down the top ridge towards Black Loch and Coire Cas in the distance.The view from Silver Mount looking across our enclosure towards the Pass of Ryvoan.
With the easy part over we had to try and see whether Dante had calved or not and for the untrained eye this was a lot harder than it sounds. We could see that the reindeer was focusing on a specific ginger looking spot, but was this a new-born calf or a rock? A question that all herders ask themselves on a regular basis when looking for full grown reindeer, never mind a tiny calf! We were lucky though and the ginger mound began to move which confirmed that we had officially found the first calf of the season! Andi headed over to feed the mother, treat the naval of the calf and give spot on to give it protection from those dreaded ticks. Once we had checked that all was ok we headed back down to reindeer house to share the amazing news that our calving season had begun!
Dante and calf looking epic with the snowy Northen Corries behind. Close up of Dante’s calf – the blue colour on her navel is the antibiotic spray.
At the end of May Dante and her one month old calf headed out to the hills for the summer, along with around half of our other mums and calves. We caught up with them a few times whist they roamed freely in the hills, both mum and daughter seemed to have a great summer as they were always in excellent condition. The pair are now back in our hill enclosure for the autumn where we’ll begin to train Dante’s calf to wear a halter and get to know her personality. Hopefully she’ll grow up to be a big strong girl like her mum, and big sister Mangetout.
A big moment when the first batch of cows and calves are let out of the enclosure to free range for the summer.Dante’s calf enjoying the tasty lichen whilst out free ranging at the end of August – 4 months old to the day!
From January to May, our whole herd are out roaming free on the mountains, enjoying the wintry weather that they’re so well-equipped for. Whilst it can be ridiculously wild at times, on other days it is completely still, with glorious sunshine. I thought it would be nice to put up a selection of photos from the last month or two to give you a taste of our winter days…
Oslo leading the herd over for breakfast.
Glorious views out over Aviemore on a beautiful day.
Camus, Sika, Brie and Bordeaux. Sika’s not sure about what she just ate!
Origami and the herd on an icy morning.
Ochil wondering if the food is ready yet
Okapi has cast the main uprights of her antlers, leaving her looking a bit like a unicorn!
Spider has found a nice pool for an after dinner drink.
Santana sporting one of her antlers.
Handsome Rubiks posing!
Pavlova is easily recognised with her white tuft of hair on her forehead.
Parmesan with her white face marking, and old lass Fonn in the background.
Olympic is always one of the first to see us.
LX on a grey day…
… and again on a blue sky day!
Fonn is the oldest reindeer in the herd, at nearly 17 years old.
Ryvita and her calf Berlin.
Beautiful Dixie.
Dixie, Fly and Lulu, stalwarts of the herd.
Young Dante.
Camembert, what a star!
Brie, Inca and Meadow.
We always give the calves some preferential feeding out of the bags – it keeps their condition up and keeps them tame – here’s Bordeaux, Florence, Athens and Texel enjoying a snack.
Blyton and Camembert.
Baffin.
Angua and mum Tap. Both are quite shy reindeer but we’ve put lots of effort into feeding them extra feed each day and their confidence has come on in leaps and bounds.
At the end of March 2018 I again came to be volunteer reindeer herder for a week. This was my 4th time being a volunteer reindeer herder and being with the reindeer, the herders and the dogs means so much to me which I explained in my last blog.
Dave very kindly gave me a lift with his lovely dog Tui on the days he was working like he normally does when I am up working with the reindeer.
This time I was going to experience something very magical which I hadn’t experienced with the reindeer before… SNOW!
On my first day, I got to Reindeer House and Ruth, who used to be a reindeer herder, was also there visiting. I had experienced lots of fun days with Ruth and the reindeer so I was really pleased to see her again and catch up with her news.
A group of 55 reindeer were free ranging on the Cairngorms. On the hill visits, I went to 3 different locations where I hadn’t been before and we set off from the Ciste car park for all of them.
On the first visit, there were still snow on the mountains and people were skiing fast down the main skiing area. We climbed up a very icy hill and visitors were helping each other if they were struggling to climb up. A skier was coming down and politely stopped to let us all past. I later found out that only the advanced skiers could ski on this side of the mountains.
We reached the reindeer and the magnificent views of the mountains surrounding us.
The frozen tarns and puddles looked amazing. I was so excited about being with the reindeer again and I immediately pointed Spy out to a very amazed Hen. It was so lovely seeing all the 2017 calves again, they had all grown so much and were as cute as ever. There were 2 calves which I hadn’t met before as they were free ranging with their mums on Feshie Bridge when I was last up in October. They were Blyton (Parmesan’s calf) and Keats (Wapiti’s calf). They were still extremely shy as they were still getting used to humans.
On the way back down a very icy hill, Hen taught me how to walk down it by digging your heels down into the snow making a hole grip otherwise I might have slid all the way down to the bottom of the hill. Some reindeer herders had done that before. We saw some bottom sliding marks where people had decided to go down the hill on their bottoms. I was amazed to find out that in the main gully of the Cairngorm Mountains there was up to 15m depth of compact snow. Hen told me lots of very interesting facts about snow and snow drifts on the Cairngorm Mountains.
Little did I know that later on in that week that I would experience all the amazing facts which Hen told me about……….
I was very lucky to be part of Olly’s last day being a reindeer herder. It was very sad to say goodbye to Olly but I am very pleased for him as he has got lots of exciting adventures ahead of him.
A Very Special Easter Sunday
Ptarmigan
My Dad is a very keen bird watcher who travels abroad to see birds. My Dad had only seen a Ptarmigan once so he really wanted to see one on this trip up to Scotland. Andi told my Dad where to see one so on Easter Sunday my Dad and my Mum started climbing up the Cairngorm Mountains in search of Ptarmigan. Thanks to Andi, my very excited Dad and Mum found a Ptarmigan pair and my dad was able to get some cracking photos of the Ptarmigan. Another male Ptarmigan arrived and nearly landed on my mum’s head.
The Easter Sunday hill visit was really sunny and all the reindeer were lying down sunbathing when we got to them. The top ski car park was full so they were running shuttle buses from the Ciste car park to the main skiing area and the Ciste car park was filling up. It was a perfect day for skiing so it was very busy on the main skiing area.
Fly the reliable reindeer (recently featured in Tilly’s Blog)
We were also busy and fully booked on the hill trip with 30 cars and 92 people who had a very magical experience with the very relaxed sunbathing reindeer. Kipling really enjoyed a cuddle from a child and Hopscotch (Kipling’s mum) had wandered over to Andi, Mel and myself with some very surprised visitors as Hopscotch came and sat down with them. Cheese and Fly then decided to join us all by hovering nearby. Cheese watched me as I added details to my reindeer herd list to help me learn the names of the reindeer. Also I got brilliant reindeer selfies with Dante and Fly.
Cheese thinking what am I writing about her
One of the visitors got their leg stuck in a bog and couldn’t get it out. Andi was all prepared to take over from the visitor’s friend who was trying to loosen the mud and water from around the leg. Andi advised the visitor to twist her leg and with a big pull from Andi and the visitors friends, the visitor’s leg got free and she was out of the bog!
Say ‘cheese’ Fly
After the hill trip on Easter Sunday, I got to meet Dave’s baby son called Sam and his partner Emma. When I was left in October, Dave and Emma were expecting a baby and I was so over joyed to hear that they had little Sam about a month after I had left. It was so lovely meeting baby Sam and getting to know Emma. I really enjoyed my little cuddle with baby Sam and he was talking to me in his own way.
I was mixing the feeds which make up our reindeer mix such as hay barley, sugar beet, dark grains etc. together. A little robin flew through a hole and was hoping around near me collecting little bits of straw for its nest. I was so amazed how tame this little robin was. I told Dave about him and Dave says he normally comes in and out through the hole collecting things. Dave jokingly told me his name was James (which I believed). I think it is really lovely how Reindeer House have their resident robin who is now nicknamed James the robin.
Weather Suddenly Changed
On Easter Monday, I got to go and find the reindeer with Fiona and Mel and bring them down for their breakfast and for the hill visit. The reindeer were up very high on plantation hill and we could see them from the van. As we walked out it was sunny but then it got dark very suddenly. The reindeer didn’t come when we called them so we climbed a big hill and called them from there. We had to wave a bag around so that the reindeer could see us. A big hail storm came and we couldn’t see them as the visibility was so poor. I was lucky that the hail stones didn’t go in my eyes as I got glasses on but Mel’s and Fiona’s eyes were stinging. I was in my element being in a massive hail storm at a top of a hill calling reindeer who were slowly coming down the mountain, it was the most magical feeling ever. Little did I know that it was going to get even more magical …….
We started to climb down the hill and I hung back to see reindeer slowly appearing over the top of the hill. Sambar was leading the herd.
Sambar leading the herd over the hill
It was so magical when the reindeer followed us and Fiona got some brilliant photos of me leading the reindeer down. I was so excited about seeing them come across a little patch of snow as I hadn’t seen that before and I was more amazed how they leapt and sprang over the stream.
Fiona feeding Cailin and Fonn
We settled the herd where the hill visit will come that day. I was in charge of having the sack for the calves so they could have a little extra feed whilst Mel and Fiona went around the older reindeer to give them some extra feed such as Malawi, Fonn, Cailin and Bangle as they looked a bit thin and needed more food. Fiona managed to tempt Blyton the calf over to feed from the sack so she can get use to humans.
Christie, Dante and JK feeding from the sack of feed
It was so brilliant just chilling with the reindeer and walking through the herd to get to know them and check them over. Reindeer are so calming and it is so lovely that they want to be in your presence. It is such a special connection and is such a magical feeling.
Fiona gave me one of the lovely photos she had taken of me and printed it off and put it in a frame for me as a very special present which I really love. It is so special to me and means a lot to me. I have put it on my bedside cabinet and it is the last thing I see at night reminding me that the reindeer and everyone and dogs will be still there waiting for me till I am next up.
Sookie who is our resident dog at Reindeer house has to wear a bright coloured jacket saying ‘Please do not throw me sticks’ when she goes outside. Sookie suffers from arthritis now as she is getting older. It was the first time I had seen her in her new jacket and apparently she still goes up to people and shows them her begging eyes to throw her sticks and then doesn’t understand why her begging eyes are not working anymore! She does that sulking look at you like she is saying ‘do I need to wear this jacket?’.
On the first hill visit, I saw Dave waving a reindeer away. Her name is Cioch. Cioch I later learnt can be at times very grumpy and can appear friendly to an excited visitor. She loves been handfed and then stays around the visitors.
Hen says 1 herder needs to keep an eye on her at all times as she will lower her head and wave her antlers to an unexpected visitor if they approach her with no food! Cioch also might be pregnant which makes her even more grumpier so we had to keep an eye on her.
I rescued visitors from her twice. One occasion she was standing her ground and waving her antlers to a group of visitors so I encouraged her away with my empty hand feed bag.
The other occasion, Mel was talking about how to hand feed, I turned around to see if everyone was paying attention when I spotted Cioch at the side of the group of people. Some people were paying attention to her and not to Mel and they were trying to encourage her to move forwards thinking she is a lovely friendly reindeer. I was thinking this is not going to end well! I made my way over and just as I predicted Cioch had lowered her head and had started waving her antlers at them when she had realised they had no food for her. I went straight to Cioch waving my arms to scare her way and encouraged the people to listen to Mel. Dave had realised what I had done and praised me by saying I had done that very well!
First signs of reindeer in the snow, hoof prints!
The Magic Of Winter
The following day I woke up to snow on the ground and in the trees. I couldn’t wait to see the reindeer in the snow. Me and Sheena had to clear snow off the paths and steps outside the reindeer centre and in the paddocks with shovels. This was my first time shovelling snow. Being in the snow for me was just as exciting as at home we don’t get much.
We couldn’t poo pick the paddocks like normal as the snow was hiding yesterday’s poo. It had also built up on the upside down food bowls and I had to break the ice on the water troughs so the reindeer can break the water. It was so magical letting the reindeer into the snowy paddocks for their breakfast. It was my first time I had ever seen reindeer hoof prints in the snow and seeing them so at home in the snow.
The hill visit was so amazing seeing the herd in the snow. They looked so relaxed and at ease. The reindeer were all lying down when we arrived. It was so lovely seeing the visitor’s faces seeing the reindeer in the snow and interacting with them. Bumble had found a stream under the snow and was drinking nicely from it. After hand feeding the reindeer, Ochil came straight to the empty rucksack and starting pawing at it to see if there was any more food in it and then looked at me like I was just about to magic more food out of thin air for her to have.
I realised in the snow that the reindeer are more excited to see the food. In the wild they would have to kick the snow out of the way to reach the food underneath. It was so wonderful seeing the reindeer do this natural behaviour pawing at the snow to get to the heather underneath.
I was so excited experiencing seeing the reindeer in the snow.
Sheena said “Who is more excited about the snow?” “The reindeer or the reindeer herder?”
The answer was the reindeer herder!
Where Has All The Snow Gone?
I had a shock when I went into the Paddocks in the afternoon. The snow had all gone. I could not believe how fast it had melted. I thought it would have stayed like it does when we have snow at home. Dave informed me that it melts away quickly up here at the Reindeer Centre because it is wet snow and also it had warmed up a bit throughout the day.
As the snow melted, it had revealed how much the reindeer had pooed yesterday and today. It looked like an explosion of poo with piles dotted over the enclosure.
I was near the end of poo picking the paddocks when a visitor asked me a question about reindeer. I turned my back on my big nearly full up dustpan of reindeer poo thinking it was going to be ok standing there. I was half way through answering the question when I heard a rubbing sound behind me. I turned around to see Viking rubbing his one antler on the tall dustbin handle which would had fallen over with poo rolling down the hill if I hadn’t caught it in time. Cheeky Viking!
Viking and Scrabble eating their tea
A Dog and A Lost Toy Fox
I had a gut feeling that I was supposed to be in the paddocks visiting area that afternoon as something will happen but I didn’t know what.
When I was tiding the paddocks visiting area, I heard a dog barking. To my disbelief, I saw the owner of that bark tied up in the paddocks visiting area. Reindeer think dogs are wolves so they are scared very easily by a dog as they think it is their predator the wolf. Dogs are not allowed in the paddocks visiting area and on the hill visit for that very reason.
Chris had been on the phone to someone that very afternoon explaining that dogs are not allowed.
A little girl ran up to the tied up dog to tell the dog to be quiet and then ran off to her family which were on the other side of the paddocks visiting area. My first thought was to get someone else to deal with it but then I felt it might have been too late by then as the dog was causing a big scene and the reindeer were looking very scared.
So I went over to the family and told them very politely that their dog is scaring the reindeer and that the reindeer thought their dog was a wolf. The lady was apologetic and got someone to take the dog out whilst she told me that they had misread the situation and had thought their dog was allowed into the paddocks visiting area.
I went inside and told the others and they were very impressed I had dealt with the situation and said I did the right thing.
A little later on, I was tiding the kids craft area in the exhibition of the paddocks visiting area and I came across a lost toy fox which a child had obviously left behind. I went round the paddocks visiting area asking families with children if this lost toy fox belonged to them. No one recognised it and I was beginning to wonder if a child was getting upset about losing their toy fox.
I put it in my pocket and finished tiding up the kids craft area. I was just about to make my way to put it in the lost property basket in the shop when a lady suddenly appeared and began looking around the kids craft area like it she was looking for something. It turned out she was looking for the little toy fox and she was so relieved when I took it out of my pocket and gave it to her. She said it had been bought only today and that it had been the 2nd time the child had lost it. I felt very pleased with myself that I had made a difference as I knew what it had felt like to lose a special teddy for a while when I was a child.
Dave had done a really good Easter Egg Hunt around the paddocks visiting area. I had a go and really enjoyed it. The hardest number egg to find was number 2 and we had lots of children coming to ask us where number 2 was. It was on the boat in the exhibition.
There were 6 eggs to find and each egg had a word on the back of it. After finding the 6 eggs, the children would have a sentence in front of them which was ‘Reindeer Roam Regularly Right Round Cairngorm’.
After the children had completed the Easter Egg hunt, they won a chocolate egg which they came back into the shop for. I would be normally restocking the shop in the afternoon when the children came in for their chocolate eggs.
One afternoon, when I was restocking the shop, a family came in and I gave the children their chocolate eggs and Hen had come in to see if I was ok and if they wanted to buy anything. The children normally go on their way again when they had got their chocolate egg.
But what threw me the man who was with the children asked me why had only 1 antler had fallen off Viking. I had answered that confidently loads of times in the paddocks visiting area but this was in the shop in a different place and situation which I hadn’t expected and my mind been on restocking the shop minutes before hand. I had brain freeze and my mind went blank. I started to try to explain the answer and then started getting more and more self conscious.
I looked at Hen who gave me a encouraging look and nod knowing that I could do it. So I carried on explaining and really thought about what I was saying and I did it! I was so pleased with myself that I had got over that hurdle and I felt I had achieved a massive achievement!
A Magical Winter Wonderland
I had never seen so much snow at once in my life. I had woken up to my mum being so excited and telling me to open my curtains, and when I did, I could not believe how much snow was on the ground and it was still snowing heavily.
The snow ploughs had been on the road to clear the snow to make them safe for people. When we got to the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre, we saw the snow ploughs clearing the snow and it was amazing how much snow they left piled up. The snow on the ground was about 3ft and my dad took a photo of me in the snow by the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre Sign! We couldn’t believe how much snow stayed on the fir trees weighing them down!
Me and Chris had to clear snow off the paths and steps outside the reindeer centre which excited Tiree and Sookie thinking we were playing a game with them.
Fiona, Hen,T iree and Sookie then went off to find the reindeer. I was amazed that they didn’t need me to clear the snow off the drive for them as they just drove over it.
Back at home, we have to clear the snow off the drive to get out but I was soon learning that the snow up here is a lot wetter and softer. Chris showed me how to put grit down as I have never done that before.
I then went to clear the snow off the paths in the paddocks. I was so amazed to see how much snow there was on the BBQ hut roof and on the paths in the paddocks which was about 3ft deep! It looked so magical and a like a blanket of snow of the ground which had been untouched!
Unexpected Visitors
About 9:35am, I was shovelling the snow off the paths in the paddock when I heard voices shouting hello. I knew the paddock visitor entrance was still locked as we don’t open till 10 O’clock. To my disbelief I then saw a man with 2 children walking into the paddocks visiting area wanting to know where they needed to queue up for the hill trip which I just confirmed for them.
They had got in through our private front garden where the disabled entrance is. I followed them back through to make sure they got out and to shut our garden gate. In our front garden, the snow was still deep. On their way out the 2 children were picking up massive handfuls of snow.
I piled snow into the reindeer paddock enclosure, on the soil area and on the sides of the paths. The paths began to look clearer and safer for the visitors to use. I was very pleased with myself and felt like I had achieved and had made a difference.
Reindeer In A Magical Winter Wonderland
It was so magical when Mel let the reindeer through for their breakfast just before we opened. I have never seen reindeer glide through this depth of snow before and they looked so at home!
It was so lovely to see the children playing outside the Reindeer Centre in the snow. Children had built snowmen and throwing snowballs at each other. Many of the children were tourists and were just excited as me about the snow!
Scrabble and Viking tussling
The hill trip group was smaller than the last few days. Everyone was very excited to see the reindeer in the snow including me! Most of the reindeer herders like the snow as they like skiing and I really loved it and was in my element. I was experiencing the most snow ever in my life!
I could not believe how deep it was in the mountains and I was actually experiencing what Hen had taught me about the heavy snow and snow drifts on the Cairngorm Mountains!
People had even had sunglasses on and I was learning that sunglasses were not only used for bright sunny days!
Bumble trying to open the rucksack
By the time Chris had finished the talk about the life of the Cairngorm Reindeer herd and where they roam, a group of children had finished building a snowman. They had built it so quickly as the amount of snow there was. Some children were even trying to make and roll big snowballs on our very exciting walk to the reindeer!
Chris guarding the sack of reindeer feed from Dixie and Fonn
The reindeer were not on view as we reached the ridge where we did our hill visit so Mel went and found them and led them up to us. It was so magical to watch Mel walk along the ridge against the white brightness of the snowy mountains and then appear again a few minutes later with the reindeer following her!
I put my hand feed rucksack down and Bumble made a bee line for it and started kicking it to try to open it as she knew the hand feed was in it which made everyone laugh! Chris had to stand on his sack of reindeer feed as Dixie and Fonn were hanging around the sack and he knew they might try to open the sack themselves if he hadn’t stood on it.
Seeing the reindeer in their natural habitat in the snow free ranging was such a magical feeling! I felt so happy and excited! Everywhere you looked was white!
The reindeer really stood out against the white and it made their coats look darker! It was so amazing how bright the snow was! Blondie and Mozzarella the 2 white (leucistic) reindeer looked camouflaged against the snow.
As the reindeer tried to eat the heather, their heads disappeared in a snow hole and there could be up to 2 heads in a snow hole at a time. I found it very cute if it was a mother and calf.
Caddis, Morven, Aral and Brie chilling in the deep snow
There was just a couple left who were really enjoying being with the reindeer and Chris reassured them there is no rush to leave.
It was so magical being with the reindeer in the peace and quiet sharing their very magical winter wonderland with them. They appeared so calm and at home and let you just be around them and just chilled with us! I felt very relaxed and felt like if I was flying! It was the best feeling ever!
Chris took some brilliant photos of the couple surrounded by the reindeer and it was so lovely seeing them experiencing this magical moment too!
Hobnob in her element surrounded by deep snow
Chilling with Ochil and Bumble
On the way back, the weather was closing in and it was turning into a heavy blizzard walking back to the car park. I saw people building a big igloo out of the snow and we had to be careful where we stepped as one false move we could end up waist deep in the snow. Some parts you just don’t know how deep the snow is.
Kipling the calf investigating to see if I had more food for her
My Last Day Sharing The Magical Winter Wonderland With The Reindeer
A selfie with the cheeky Dr Seuss
I got to go and find the reindeer with Fiona and Mel and bring them down for their breakfast and for the hill visit. The reindeer were up on the plantation. It was very different when we last went as the mountains were still covered in very deep snow and the path by the car park was very icy. Mel put some grit on the path to make it safer for the hill visit after we found the reindeer.
Mel also put some grit on the drive just before we had left as Fiona slipped on an icy patch and fell flat on her bum. Thankfully Fiona was ok and I think she was very brave.
As we walked through the snowy mountains, I was trying to spot the reindeer on the very snowy plantation hill. We got to the end of the ridge where the hill visit will be for that day (same place as yesterday). We started to do the special reindeer call and Mel pointed the reindeer out who were coming in a line down the plantation side.
We left the very patient Sookie and Tiree in the stay position
I was also seeing something I hadn’t seen before. I had never seen reindeer walk in a line one behind the other. They do this to save energy. Their back hooves go into the front hoof prints.
Fiona asked me why I had followed her route across the snowy mountain and I said that it was easier and that I would get less tired. Fiona had made me realise that we are like reindeer in the snow too.
It was so magical seeing the reindeer run across the snow like they had springs on their hooves when they got nearer to us. They looked so light and springy like a rabbit running to get to its burrow.
Preferential calf feeding
Fly lead them up to the top of the ridge where we were waiting with the feed sacks. I encouraged the calves to come and feed out of my sack which they happily did.
Bumble was trying it on with me as she was pretending to be a calf and Mel said she will be fine if I moved her away with her 1 antler. I got hold of her antler and moved her way, it was such a strange feeling and Mel said it doesn’t her hurt her. After I let go, Bumble went straight back to the sack of feed again and so I moved her away again. By the 2nd attempt, Bumble had realised I meant business and that the sack of feed was a calves only zone!
2017 Calves
I had got to know the calves over the week and also when I saw them in October. It seemed all the confident calves such as JK, Kipling, Dr Seuss, Burns, Pratchett and Christie had their heads always in the sack of reindeer feed. If any of the less confident calves came along, they would not let them in.
I saw Dante and Austen hanging back. When I saw them in October, they were so shy but since being on Christmas tours they have got more confident. I encouraged them to come closer and made space so they could put their head in the sack and get some reindeer feed.
Austen is such a sweet and gentle little calf. In October I remember trying to herd Austen and her mother Pavlova in to a separate part of the enclosure as we needed to check Austen’s temperature as she was on the skinny side.
In October, I had fallen in love with Bumbles’s calf called Brontie and Mum and Dad were going to adopt her for my birthday but unfortunately in December she died. I was very sad when I found out and I had a very lovely email from Morna explaining why Brontie had died and what had happened to her.
This time whilst I was up, I was getting to know the calves a bit better. I really like Dante and had some brilliant selfies with her. But I knew that she was from a very shy reindeer family and would grow up to be one of the reindeer who will want to hang at the back of the herd and not hand feed.
I already adopt Mo (aged 5) who is such a very special reindeer to me! He starred in the CBeebies programme ‘The Viking Princess’ in December last year, I am so proud of him! He also enjoyed meeting younger children on a visit to a nursery school recently and he was such a good boy standing still for the children.
I also have a soft spot for Austen and had noticed a huge difference in her since October! She was much braver and bolder and was looking much better as when I last saw her in October she looked a bit skinny. I heard that Austen got more confident and cheeky on Christmas tour and went to Cardiff and Cornwall!
Little Austen, my newly adopted reindeer
With lots of thinking over the week about which calf to adopt and with a talk from Andi, I now adopt Austen too which I am so pleased about!
I had also seen Pavlova pregnant with Austen when I was a reindeer herder last April! 16 days after I had left, little Austen was born!
Has Breakfast Finished?
After Mel and Fiona had checked all the reindeer and fed the older girls, I put down the piles of feed for the reindeer’s breakfast and counted them. I hadn’t put the empty sack under my arm properly. I hadn’t realised that if the reindeer could still see the sack or get the scent of food that they will follow you and that what they started to do. So Fiona had to try to lead the away from the car park side and back to the place where we gave them their breakfast which she successfully did and she soon caught us with me and Mel, Sookie and Tiree!
Over the week, I got to know most of the reindeer by name and get to know each reindeer’s personalities. I write lots of details on my reindeer herd list and I take photos which then helps me remember them. I also see the differences and changes of each reindeer since I was last up too.
Lora in April 2017
Lora in April 2018
The Biggest Hill Trip
Fiona drove to the top ski car park to see what the skiing conditions were like as she was going skiing later. It was the first time I had seen the top car park with ski activity and with the chair lifts going. I was amazed how busy it looked with lots of skiers.
As we arrived back to the centre, the queue from the shop door was huge and was going across the drive and the queue had to part so we could drive past and park.
This hill visit was the last time I will see the reindeer till next time! On this hill trip we had 29 cars and a mini bus full with Girl Guides. There were so many people. I stood at the top of the icy path which Mel had gritted earlier that morning and helped people up if they were struggling. I then caught up with the front of the line and stood at the bottom of a boggy bit to help people over if they needed it. It was really nice helping people and seeing that they really appreciate it. It was really lovely seeing families do teamwork by helping each other too.
Down in one of the gullies, I saw a man doing cross country skiing with his dog on a lead, I was so amazed as I hadn’t seen that before! That is a brilliant way to walk your dog.
When we got to the top of the ridge, Chris went over to the reindeer to encourage them to come closer. Andi was leading the group over whilst I stayed at the back of the group.
All of a sudden the line stopped moving and then there was a line of cameras and phones clicking away. Chris was leading the reindeer closer us and it looked like the reindeer was on a white snowy carpet and next to me was the line of reindeer paparazzi! I have never seen so many visitors get their cameras and phones out so quickly.
My selfie with Cailin who is aged 15
When we were on the ridge, us herders went down a bit and spread out so the line of visitors on the ridge could see us when we demonstrated things such as how to hand feed. When they do visits to the hill enclosure, they have certain stopping bits for certain parts of the talk, so doing a route which they hadn’t done for ages and thinking where to stop to say which part can be very daunting for them so they tend to share the visits talk between them and double check with each other if they had said everything which is brilliant teamwork.
On this big hill visit, Chris was about to put the food down for the reindeer and was telling the visitors that me, Andi and himself will have a bag of hand feed each. I suddenly realised he hadn’t done how to hand feed the reindeer yet and reminded him.
As the visitors started going away it got quieter. I had so many excited people on this hill trip come over to me and ask me lots of questions and they were so interested about the reindeer. On the hill trips, I found it so lovely how people would come over to me and ask me questions about the reindeer and it was so rewarding sharing my knowledge of the reindeer with them. I felt I had achieved and made a difference in their lives and that I had taught them something which they hadn’t known before. It was such a special and brilliant feeling to have.
Giving Dante some TLC (tender loving care) at breakfast time
When there were only a few people left, the reindeer were moving nearer the Ciste car park side and me and Andi called them but with no response.
I went down the ridge bank and had such a very special time with Cailin, Dixie and Bangle! The sun was shining and we all just sat there chilling together and I had brilliant selfies with them! It was such a very special and magical experience being with them, knowing they were also the oldest girls in the herd which I nicknamed The Golden Oldies. I had an empty feed bag with me and they kept double checking that it was definitely empty and to make sure that it wasn’t magically filling up with reindeer feed for them.
Andi and Chris was climbing down the ridge towards the herd so I knew it was time to go. When I got up, all 3 reindeer followed me all the way to the rest of the herd where Fonn (aged 15) came running towards me to see if I had food for her. I caught that on video too which was very magical and special.
Andi and Chris joined me and I knew that all the visitors had gone. I helped Andi and Chris herd the reindeer away from the Ciste car park side by walking forwards and waving our arms with them knowing this was goodbye for now.
It was so hard to say goodbye to them as they bring a lot out of me and mean so much to me and are such a big part of my life!
Sookie
Fiona had invited me for tea at reindeer house so I stayed on after 5pm. Fiona, Mel and Chris and Tiree went skiing with friends. Mel said that Sookie will love a walk with me.
Me and Sookie had a really lovely walk through the woods to Loch Morlich and went on the lovely beach with the stunning views of the Cairngorms.
Sookie is such a very well behaved dog and obeys lots of commands so she walked off the lead. Sookie kept trying it on with me as every so often she would present me with a stick and then lay down at it starring at it.
Sookie wanted me to throw the stick for her. But she didn’t win as I kept telling her that even without her special jacket on that the rule about no stick throwing is the same.
We really enjoyed exploring the woods and going on the beach together. We spent very special quality time together and we finished our very special walk by having a brilliant selfie together on Loch Morlich beach.
Chilling with Sookie selfie
I had a really lovely and special meal at reindeer house. We had very tasty wild boar from Tilly’s and Alan’s farm which Fiona had slowed cooked throughout the day. It was so nice spending an evening at reindeer house and I really enjoyed it.
It was my first time properly working with Chris whom I had met on my last day being a reindeer herder back in October. He showed me lots of videos and photos of the reindeer on the computer and also showed me how he remembers who is who and showed me photos on his phone.
Chris also showed me that on one of the computers at reindeer house has a photo folder for each reindeer with their photos on which keeps record of how you can identify each reindeer and how they change over the years. It is really interesting learning what each reindeer looks like.
I found it all really interesting and it so lovely to see the reindeer running over snow very fast very excited to see the herders who had their breakfast.
I am now counting down how many sleeps when I am next up with the reindeer, reindeer herders and dogs which is at the end of May seeing the newly born calves, another first experience for me which I am very excited about.
