pinto – The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd

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

29th March 202411th March 2025

Photo Blog: March 2024

March has been a good month on the whole. The reindeer have all been roaming freely over two sites. Here on Cairngorm, we’ve been running our daily Hill Trips at 11am each morning. At the beginning of a work day we divide the duties up and generally we all take it in turns to either head out to find the reindeer and move them to a suitable location for the Hill Trip or we take the Hill Trip itself. I complained at the start of this month that I wasn’t feeling as fit as I usually am at this time of year as the reindeer have been sticking relatively close by meaning the morning walk out has been easy. Maybe they heard me, as for a good few weeks this month the reindeer became deaf to our calls and made us walk right up to them which gave me the workout I was looking for, especially when they decided to hang out at a height of around 900m each night. They usually don’t start being that sluggish until we approach the end of April and the pregnant females start showing their wide bellies. That being said, when we finally get to them, it always impresses me how willing they are to do as we ask. I’ve had some super mornings out with the herd this month and hopefully this will you give you a taste of it!

1st of March: Sorbet having a lie-down after a Hill Trip. She’ll be two in the spring, and her cheeky character is really starting to shine.

2nd of March: Holy Moley in the snow, posing like the TV star she is!

3rd of March: Feta with antlers! Since this photo was taken she’s cast them and are sadly yet to be found.

7th of March: One of the twins! This is Elbe, since he’s cast his wee antlers he looks remarkably like his twin sister Alba and I often have to do a double take.

8th of March: The herd were very high up this morning, making me and Amy walk all the way up to them, pretending they couldn’t hear us calling them for breakfast. You can just see Amy gently pushing them from the back as I’m at the front doing my best to lure them downhill.

12th of March: This time I’m ‘sheepdog’ at the back of the herd today whilst Cassie leads from the front as we get them into position for our 11am Hill Trip.

13th of March: 10-month-old calf Mekong with her lovely big ears and extra fuzzy face.

14th of March: Building work update – the gabion baskets are now in place.

17th of March: Pinto leading the herd, with her daughter Orinoco following just behind.

19th of March: The herd in the distance moving (incredibly slowly) to our call. Cameron and I still had to walk out most of the way to them so we didn’t miss out out on our morning walk.

19th of March: Nuii and her wonderful billowing beard! Nuii will be 2 years old in the spring but she’s so dinky she often gets mistaken for a calf.

21st of March: Feeding the herd underneath a rainbow.

22nd of March: Shannon and her mum Cheer. 10-month-old Shannon is a very greedy young lass and loves her food, however Cheer is one of the shiest members of our entire herd. Shannon therefore appears rather torn between her love of feed and her desire to copy her mum! As she gets older and her confidence will grow and I’m sure her franticness around a feedbag will calm down.

25th of March (a): The free rangers were brought into the enclosure the day before so that this morning we could give everyone a routine health check and some of the herd a vaccination. This is Lolly and mum Oatcake leading the way down to breakfast after their temperature checks.

25th of March (b): A trip to the farm in Glenlivet to help Tilly out give the reindeer there a routine health check. The reindeer looking at the camera is Cicero. It was great to see some of the boys again!

26th of March: Lace already beginning to grow her antlers – go Lace!

26th of March: The herd were remarkable unfazed by their vaccinations so Andi and I let them out of the enclosure to go free roaming again – here’s Gloriana and old girl Fern leading the way. Fern looking amazing for almost 17!

27th of March: Winter returns! Feeding the calves out of the bag to give them a wee bit of an extra boost.

28th of March: Sundae pleading with me for more food – she makes it hard to resist.

Ruth

8th March 202411th March 2025

Dynasties – Spy

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.*

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.

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 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.

*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.

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.

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.

*Amazon 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.

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 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!

*Spy at 12 years old, still in her prime.*

Lotti

26th January 202411th March 2025

Photo Blog: January 2024

January has seen the last few Hill Trips of the Christmas holidays and then the start of our closed period where we can crack on with various office and maintenance jobs such as repairing holes in our waterproof kit (thanks Lotti for keeping us dry!) and oiling the Christmas harness ready to be stored for the next 10 months.

The entire reindeer herd roams freely in the hills at this time of year over two locations. Tilly looks after one group, and we look after the herd here which wander the Cairngorms. We tend to visit them every other day (when the weather allows) to check on our wonderful furry friends. Of course, they’re totally fine and are in their element over the winter months but they won’t turn down a free meal. I think it’s mostly for the herders benefit that we go up and see them else we’d all probably go a bit mad without our reindeer fix.

The HUGE thing which is also going on this January is the exhibition has been demolished so it’s been all hands on deck, taking things down, sorting and storing things to be kept, cutting trees, clearing brash, ripping up boardwalks, loading trailers etc. Here’s a selection of photos from what has turned out to be a rather action packed ‘quiet’ season! We look forward to reopening the shop and taking Hill Trips from Saturday the 10th of February.

2nd of January: A wonderful day for a Hill Trip.

3rd of January: 15 year old Ibex leading the free ranging herd.

5th of January: Cassie overseeing the feeding of the calves.

10th of January: The herd emerging from the mist on a beautiful atmospheric day. Merida at the front.

10th of January: Pavlova with one of the biggest sets of antlers this winter.

11th of January: Snoozy Orinoco and mum Pinto.

13th of January: Ben leading the herd in for a free lunch. Pinto and Orinoco at the front!

14th of January: Lace and her son Limpopo in the snow. Lace is a strong leader, and tends to be at the front of the free ranging herd as they come to our call.

14th of January: Sisters in the snow! Danube and her older sister Sorbet. Their mum Brie was just next to them too, but I missed the full family portrait.

19th of January: Herd on the move! Pinto and Orinoco, Lace and Limpopo and Hopscotch lead the charge.

22nd of January: We left the reindeer to it today, which meant we spent the morning clearing the chaos in the paddocks after the demolition of the exhibition. Here’s Lotti, Andi and Lisette hard at work.

24th of January: Amy leading the free ranging herd.

24th of January: Colin and Cameron on the site of our old exhibition. The Arctic Shed is the only part currently still standing.

Ruth

24th February 202310th March 2025

Photo blog: February 2023

It’s the last blog of the month, so here we have a selection of photos I’ve taken during February. The early part of the month was all about crossing jobs off the to-do list ready for us to re-open to the public on the 11th of February for the busy half-term holidays. The second part of the month has been all about locating the reindeer and moving the herd into a suitable position for our Hill Trips each morning, the Hill Trips themselves, and afternoon talks in the Paddocks. Plus all the usual shop and office work. As always, the holidays are over in a blur, but here are some photos of our beautiful reindeer, giving a small taster of February for you all.

6th of February – Mushy and her mum Hobnob looking alike. This pair are never too far apart.

6th of February – Feta posing beautifully!

7th of February – Andi doing a absolutely superb job of introducing our lovely reindeer to our followers on a Facebook live video.

8th of February – almost 16-year-old Fly leading the herd.

8th of February – Lotti and the white bag being followed by three old girls – Okapi, Lace and Sika.

11th of February – Open day!! These are our beautiful reindeer selected to be in the Paddocks for a short spell over February half-term. From left to right we have Pip, Camembert, Fern, and Florence.

12th of February – being “sheep dog” at the back of the herd whilst Hen leads them from the front. Moving the herd in place for the 11am Hill Trip.

12th of February – Beret posing beautifully, hard to believe she’ll be two in the spring!

13th of February – what a lovely day for a Hill Trip! Walking along at the back of our excited visitors.

13th of February – Beanie, being Beanie!

15th of February – acting sheep dog again. A windy and wet morning to retrieve the herd and deposit them in the right place for our visitors.

20th of February – Gelato, Christie’s calf, being cute.

20th of February – leading the herd to the correct location just in time! We made it to the visit location at bang on 11am, giving us 10 mins to spare before the Hill Trip arrived. I had the trusty white bag over my shoulder for bribery at the front of the herd and Lisette is “sheep dog” at the back in the red jacket.

20th of February – Paddock swap day! Pip, Camembert, Fern, and Florence went back in the hill, and were replaced with (from left to right) Kipling and her calf Tub, Feta and Hopscotch. They’ll spend the next 7 days in the Paddocks before heading back up the hill after the holidays are over.

21st of February – my favourite part of a Hill Trip – watching our visitors peacefully mingling with the herd after the hectic hand feeding session if over!

21st of February – a close up of Fly’s head. She cast her antlers earlier in the winter and has already developed velvety pads. Spring is coming!

21st of February – Suidhe just checking in with her calf Solero.

22nd of February – snow again! Rocket and his mum Gloriana.

22nd of February – Morven on the left with her two daughters Pinto and calf Mochi!

A final point – if you are wondering where all the young bulls and Christmas reindeer are in the photos, they spend the winter free ranging in a different herd that Tilly and other colleagues at the farm mostly look after. I’ve not been to visit them myself this month hence why it’s just photos of our beautiful girls and some male calves that you’ll find in this month’s blog.

Ruth